A Dream and a Memory
by Pescado
Summary: Story concluded! One month after the end of the war, Cloud and Tifa both have eerily similar dreams. Through their dreams they discover new danger for Earth, a new hope, and something more between them.
1. Chapter 1: A Dream and a Memory

"A Dream and a Memory"

            I know a lot of FF7 fanfics are out there, especially ones that deal with what happened to Cloud and the gang after the end of the story. Well, this is my take on what happens after the end of the game. I'm going to keep it PG-13, but there will be violence, and a little innuendo. Two things you should know. I am the type of writer that likes to deal with a little symbolism. If you pay attention you may be able to see what's going on in each character's minds via the symbols I use (there won't be a whole lot, but they will be there). And the second thing you should know is that when I played FF7 a long time ago, I renamed only one character: Aeris. Personally I hated the name. So I changed it to something similar but a name I could tolerate: Aerieth. Ever since that day it's always been Aerieth to me, and so it is with this story. Sorry fans, your just gonna have to deal with it. So that said, let the story begin…

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_            I'm walking up a long staircase…its white with pink roses along each side of a pearl white banister. There's a bright light ahead, with clouds swirling gently around it. It looks like heaven. I put my hand on the banister and take it all in. My hand touches one of the roses. I pick it up and admire its beauty. Suddenly it starts to wilt. Slowly each leaf shrivels and falls. I grab another rose. It too is remarkably perfect until my hand touches it. It shrivels and falls to the earth. I grab another, and another, pricking my hand several times by the thorns. I am desperate. It's almost as if the entire rose bush is rejecting me. I hear something. I glance behind me and see the stairs that I am climbing turning to ash and breaking away. I run up the stairs, keeping myself ahead of the falling columns of stone. The top seems so far away, but I will myself on for miles and miles, until finally I reach the top just as the last stair crumbles out from underneath me into the bottomless black void below. I am standing in a small circular open room. The white floor glistens from the light above, and in the center of the room, there lays an arbor covered in pink roses, with a familiar face within. My hands shake and my heart pumps. "Aerieth..." She looks up and smiles at me. She unfolds her hands and hands me a small white stone. It's the same color as the light from above. "White materia…" I look up at her again and she motions for me to look at the stone once more. I look, and see a beautiful mesh of light and brilliant clouds circling within it. Faster and faster it spins, until the light fades and the clouds darken into a raging storm. I can feel its power course through my hand with each painful lightning strike, and the clouds become more and more destructive. I look up and notice that the bright light that had once been deep in the sky had been replaced by the exact same storm within my hand. Aerieth seems unaware of the danger. I reach toward her, but as my hand touches her warm face a shattering boom announces Sephiroth high in the air, and his sword of lightning pierces her chest. The color fades from her eyes and she slumps over dead in my arms. My tears are drowned out by laughing. Laughing, laughing, laughing. Sephiroth raises his arms in triumph as I cry in anger and remorse. "No…" The materia in my hand changes color…"NO!" It turns red, blood red… "NOOOOOOO!!!!"_

            "NOOOOOOO!!!!" I'm sitting up in my bed, my hand clenched so hard and tight that it's actually bleeding. The pain is still there. I lower my arms in defeat and try to get a hold of myself. It was almost a month ago since myself, Barrett, Tifa, RedXIII, Yuffie, Vincent, Cid, and Cait Sith faced off against Sephiroth, and claimed vengeance for the life of Aerieth and for the planet. I still remember when in our final battle, when it was just me and Sephiroth, my anger kindled into something I had never experienced before. I called it the Omnislash, and I haven't been able to do it again sense, but I remember my blade piercing his flesh over and over. The blood spewed as arteries and veins opened. His stomach split open, released its darkened contents upon the floor, but my hate only grew the more as I slashed again and again and again, finally seeing him withdraw into darkness. I thought that that was the last day I would ever see him. But I was wrong. I've seen him every night in my dreams since then. Sometimes it's me fighting him, and I relive his last moments. Sometimes I'm fighting him but this time I don't win, instead it's he who is the victor, and the world crumbles. But most of the time it's the dream I just had. Usually theirs a little variation…like this time. I've haven't seen the white materia since…a month ago when we fought Sephiroth. I put my hand on my forehead, trying to remember the dream more distinctly. It always fades so quickly. Dreams tend to do that the more you try to remember them…I remember Aerieth was there. Yah, she's almost always there. And the staircase. Yes, there was a staircase surrounded by pink roses that…that…oh what did they do…yes, they turned into ash when I touched them. That hasn't happened before. Or was that the staircase? And why did the white materia turn red? Aerieth's blood…

            I get out of bed and put some clothes on. It's a sunny day out, although it's hard to see the sun in Midgar, even after the life stream saved and changed it. My apartment is small…I'm a rich man now. I could afford a luxurious house that would have rivaled anything in Midgar. But thinking of luxury sickens me. Every person who I have ever met who was rich has turned out to be evil. Perhaps it's a cruel and unfair generalization, but it's true. Rufus, Palmer, and Hojo, just to name a few.

            I glance at the clock. It's almost nine o'clock. I go to my closet. In it is lies all my memories of my adventures through Wutai, Midgar, the Frozen North and the Final Dungeon, Gold Saucer, and everything else. There are a lot of pictures. I never knew it, but apparently Cait Sith had been taking pictures of us constantly during our exploits. Originally it was to frame us, but Cait Sith, or rather, the guy controlling him (I still don't know his name or where exactly he lives in Midgar), ended up just taking photos of us because he thought that if we were lucky enough to live through the war, we might enjoy them. He was right. There's only one picture of Aerieth though. Well, I shouldn't say that. There are several of her in group photos, and two or three of her fighting off a chocobo, but really there's only one of her just by herself. She has that smile, that smile I will never forget. I look away…

            I see my swords. I ended up selling most of them after the war. I didn't know what to do with them. Cid said I should keep them as trophies, and I did keep a few. Apocalypse, Ultima sword, and the Nail Bat, to be specific. I kept the first two because of their sheer power, the third, because no one would buy it. To this day they are mounted next to my Buster Sword, the only other sword I kept. I sharpen it a lot. It's almost like a hobby for me. Every time I do so many memories come back. The good, the bad, but mostly the good. Countless many enemies fell because of this behemoth. Sometimes I like to count just how many I've killed. I smirk at the thought and then put on a leather jacket. Hey, I'm entitled to some luxuries alright?

            The cleanup of sector seven has been slow, but then again, there wasn't much to take care of after the life stream went through it. Sector seven is basically a jungle now; a tiny garden of Eden amongst a bustling town. Really the only things that we had to remove were the boulders that blocked the entrances into sector seven, and we finished that almost a week ago. Time flies when you're having fun, I guess.

            I'm not sure where Tifa and Barrett are exactly. I last talked to them three days ago at Aerieth's old house, where Aerieth's mom has allowed them to stay until they can provide themselves with a more permanent residence. Her mom took the news of Aerieth's death really hard, and the flowers in her garden have been neglected as a result. But at least she's taking care of the cooking part. Tifa never was a good cook despite her old days as a bartender. And Barrett couldn't make a peanut butter sandwich to save his life. I can here it now. _"What the hell is with this damn stuff anyway? Not only does it taste bad, but hell! I can't even get the &%# lid open!!!"_

            I decide to walk to the old church, the one where I first met Aerieth. I enter and I immediately remember how she enlisted me as her body guard. "I'm sorry Aerieth, I wasn't good enough…" I accidentally say aloud, though nobody is around to notice. "You come here to often Cloud," says a voice from somewhere. I reach for my sword, notice that I forgot to bring it, then go into a boxing stance and yell, "Who's there? Show yourself!"


	2. Chapter 2: A Dream and a Memory

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Well guys, I know it was a slow start, but I had to get the dream sequence in because I thought it would be a cool start. Chapter 2 is next, although I'm afraid the really good stuff won't start happening to probably chapter 3. Anyway, enough with the cliff hanger. On to chapter 2!

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            "I said, show your self!" I'm not sure why my voice sounds so bold right now. I've never fought without my sword, and am not really sure how to box or anything like that. I've seen Tifa do it a million times and I try to copy her stance, but it feels awkward and this only heightens my awareness at how venerable I am right now. "Now is that the way to talk to an old friend, Cloud?" Suddenly the voice sounds familiar, and the swish of a flame in the corner of the room confirms who I believe it to be. "RedXIII, why are you here?" I ask. "Well hello to you to," he responds. "That is a question that must be answered later. Right now I am curious about you Cloud. Why do you come here so often?" "I think you know why," I say, a bit annoyed. I'm very happy to see him, but right now I really don't feel much like talking, let alone my personal thoughts being prodded. "Actually I don't," he says. "I am only here because I was trying to find you in sector seven and only found a jungle. But I found your scent and followed it here. Because your scent was so strong, I knew that you would eventually return, and look, here you are."

            He walks forward. I notice his hair is much longer then I remembered it, and he has a necklace of some sort around his neck. It's short, in the shape of a web or something. At every intersection of the strings lies a materia of a different color. I recognize most of them. Restore, lightning, deathblow, revive, HP plus, and a couple others that I don't care to list off right now. What puzzles me is that there is a single material that I see and completely don't recognize. It's red, so I immediately begin to think of the summon materia that RedXIII took after the war, and realize that he took none that small. In fact the only one he took was Alexander, and I can see that quite plainly towards the bottom of his necklace, so this new red materia is a puzzle to me. I make a mental note to ask him about it later.

            "I met Aerieth here, Red XIII. She was running from the Turks at the time. I happened to bump into her and she,… well,…We escaped, that's all. I come here…because…" Why do I come here? "…I don't know. Maybe it's because of the smell of the flowers." That's a flat lie. The flowers that used to grow in the center of the room are all dead. Nobody's watered them since Aerieth left Midgar o so long ago. Red XIII walks towards me and I see his stern, serious face, but his eyes give away his concern and compassion. They always have. I used to joke that he could never keep a straight face. He never got the joke. He always responded with something like, _"I don't understand what you mean Cloud. How could I have a straight face?..."_

"I know your heart, Cloud," he says interrupting my thought. "It's easy to see through. We should never forget the dead. Through their memory we can make ourselves stronger and wiser. Perhaps even more then they were themselves. But to dwell upon a life that no longer exists and to wish their return instead of letting them go, only prevents us from moving forward. You need to let her go, Cloud."

            Something about his last statement set me off. "What business is it of your to delve to into my thoughts and my life! You have NO idea what she meant to me! And if there was a way to bring her back I'd do it in a heartbeat rather then have to live with how I failed her!" With that I turned and marched out of the room. Before I slammed the door I noticed RedXIII familiar stern face with those compassionate eyes. I also saw that his tail had stopped swishing back and forth.

            I kicked a rock as I walked aimlessly through the streets of downtown Midgar. I didn't care where I ended up going or what I did. I was still mad at RedXIII, but really, I knew I couldn't be mad at him for long. He had good intentions. Plus, how could I get mad at someone who I knew was one of my best friends, and had probably saved my life more then once. Instantly I went back through my memories and remembered how once, I had been fighting a pack of ice wolves up in the north. Aerieth had just died the day before, and something about her death, or the cold, was making my actions slow and sluggish. I remember slashing down at one of the wolves, completely missing it. Before I knew it, three of them were on my back, scratching, biting, and ripping at my jacket and my flesh. Tifa furiously beat at one of them but its thick fur seemed impenetrable for her fists. That's when RedXIII jumped in. Unleashing a move he later called the "Howling Moon" he leapt upon the backs of the three wolves and one by one ripped at their throats. After the first two lay dying in a pool of blood, the third attempted to run away. But RedXIII sped after him in a bloodthirsty whirlwind, and the third ended up strangling to death as he, like the other two, had his jugular surgically removed via RedXIII's teeth. Shortly afterwards it was RedXIII who came to heal me of my wounds, since Tifa was too grossed out at the sight of my shoulder blade and bloody rib cage to do anything about it.

            After what seems like ages of walking aimlessly, I end up right in front of the Honey Bee Inn. My intestines curl and I turn and run like a madman. Urg…that place still gives me the creeps.

            Since I was already at the Wall Market, I decided to take a look around. Come to think of it, I haven't been here in ages. I look and see that not much has changed. Most of the people are still here. I could stop and have a conversation with them, but I still don't feel much like talking so I move on.

            But fate it seems wanted me to talk that day. "Cloud! Cloud wait up!" I knew it was Tifa even before I turned around. She runs up much faster then I expected her to and she stops quite suddenly next to me. Despite all this she's not breathing very hard. Has she been working out? "Hey Tifa," I say, unable to think of much else. "Hi Cloud. It's good to see you. Hey, I didn't think I'd ever catch you here shopping." "Shopping?" I say. Then it hits me. "Oh yah. Shopping. Of course. That's what people do in the Wall Market. I shop here all the…actually this is my first time in the Wall Market since…" "Before the war, I know," she said, finishing my thought for me. Good ol' Tifa. What would I do without her and her ability to always read my mind. I try to hide my smirk, but I only end up looking right into her eyes. I forgot how tall I was compared to her, and now she looks questioningly back at me. "What? What's so funny?" she says. "Nothing, just…" I didn't want to tell her that I was laughing at her ability to interrupt me, so I ended up saying, "…I was laughing at how much taller I am then you." Before I realized just how stupid my comment was, I already had a hard elbow digging into my side, and yet, she was laughing too. "Well, if it wasn't for your spiky hair I'd show you just how much taller I am then you." That was her way of saying "I forgive you." "Thanks, Tifa," I said out loud. Again she looked up at me questioningly with her deep brown eyes. "For everything," I added. She smiled then looked away.

            Later that night we were in front of Aerieth's old house. This was probably the last place I needed to be right now because once again, the memories of Aerieth came back with a vengeance. I entered and greeted Aerieth's mom. She seemed older and more haggard then I remembered her. Barrett came down with Meredith in his arms and he immediately bear hugged me with his free gun-arm. His arms were still just as massive as ever, and I had the strange feeling that I was a bug, and his bicep was the windshield. "Cloud! Where the hell have you been, man?" "Around." "Pffh, yah right. You musta been doin something Cloud. I know you. You can't stand still for a minute. And if you have been "around" like you say you have, then why the $% didn't you…" he glances towards Aerieth's mom, who had turned suddenly to eye him closely, "…uh…excuse me ma'am, why the _heck_ haven't you been _around_ here?"

            I explained how I had kept busy with the cleanup of sector seven and how I had taken care of my free time by finding a place to live, and sharpening my swords once I had found one. This seemed to satisfy Barrett, but Tifa looked strangely at me. I was relieved that she said nothing, because I didn't want to explain any of my escapades to Aerieth's church or my recent run in with RedXIII.

            Barrett and I continued to talk for a while, and then Tifa stood up to help Aerieth's mom with dishes. Barrett waited until she had left, then leaning toward me, he said in a whisper, "You and I need to talk Cloud, about Tifa." "What about her?" I whispered back. "Well, she's been actin kinda funny lately. Like a damn crazy woman. She's been saying weird things lately, stuff about dreams and…" "What?" I said, sounding more interested then I had intended. "…well…it's about Aerieth, or so she says. But I've heard her talking in her dreams. She does that sometimes. But it's not just Aerieth she's dreamin about. She's dreamin about some weird materia, and also she's saying lots of stuff about…I don't know how to say this, but uh…" "About me?" I interrupted. "Yah. I figured you knew. Cloud, meet me in the garden after dinner and I'll tell you more, not that I don't think you already know or anything, but you gotta know some of the stuff she's been tellin me and some of the stuff I've over heard her say in her sleep. It's damn crazy Cloud."


	3. Chapter 3: A Dream and a Memory

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Heh, this is turning out kind of interesting. See, I'm the type of writer that just has a few basic ideas at the start of a story, and then I run with them. Sometimes all my original ideas end up in the story. Sometimes something happens along the way that totally prevents me from putting in one of my original twists. Things look like they are coming together the way I wanted, but, then again, maybe not. It's too early to be sure. Anyway, on to chapter 3!

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            Aerieth's mom was hospitable as always. She provided an excellent meal of spaghetti and meatballs, and a small salad that I couldn't quite identify the contents of. Yet in the end I didn't care what it was because it tasted really, really good.

            Tifa remained quiet during most of our dinner conversation. She chimed in a few times, mostly to comment on the quality of the food or to ridicule Barrett for his eating habits. Barrett talked about Meredith mostly. He talked about how tall she had gotten, how she had already learned to read (Tifa told me quietly that that was an exaggeration and that she could only read small words with difficulty), and how she was learning to cook through Aerieth's mom. Aerieth's mom then told me that Meredith had made the salad, which explained why I had no clue what I was eating. At that point I stopped eating the salad and moved to marf down the spaghetti.

            After dinner Barrett excused himself rather suddenly and I was left to help cleanup. Tifa and Aerieth insisted that they take care of it, but I interrupted them saying, "Hey, you just fed me when you had no warning that I was coming. Back where I come from it's impolite to just barge in asking for food and not do something in return. On top of that, it was really good meal. I love spaghetti. So at least let me return the favor by doing the dishes." Aerieth's mom blushed a little and nodded, then went upstairs. Tifa however didn't move. I figured now would be a good time to talk to her and maybe open her up a little, before I found out her deepest thoughts later through Barrett.

            I turned to the sink and realized that I had no idea where the soap was. "Umm…Tifa, where's the soap?" That was probably the worst way to start an in depth conversation, but it seemed to do the trick. Tifa in an almost expressionless face went to the cabinet to my right, and then started reaching for a little yellow bottle. Barrett must have put it there last time because she was no where near tall enough to reach it. I smirked again at this fact and then reached for it, grabbing it with ease. Tifa looked at me coyly. Putting both hands on her waist she said, "Don't you say that I'm short again or I swear I'll smack you across the room." I laughed and tried to think of something to say as I turned the hot water on and started scrubbing the dishes, putting extra soap on the plates that had left over tomato sauce stuck to it. Without saying anything, Tifa came up next to me and said, "I'll help." I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out this time so I let her stand next to me.

            "So how have you two been holding up?" I finally managed to say, again angry at myself for not thinking up something better. "Us two who? Oh, you mean Barrett and myself. Well, we've been doing alright, I guess." Her voice seemed a little more depressed then normal. "I've been looking for a place to live ever since we moved back to Midgar, but I can't afford a rental on my own. My old bartending days used to pay the bills pretty well, but ever since sector seven fell in on itself those days have long been over." "Haven't you tried asking around for another job?" I asked. "Well, yes, but no one seems to want to hire me," she replied. "Well, what about the money we split after the war? Surely you still have plenty of that." "Yes, plenty, but I'm nervous about buying a place that I couldn't support on my own income. What if I ran out of money or something while I was looking for a job? What then?" I noticed that she continually used the word "I" to describe her situation, as if Barrett had nothing to do with it. "What about Barrett? Isn't he looking for a job to help support you?" I asked. Tifa took her hands out of the soapy water, put them on her hips again and said, "Cloud, Barrett is a good friend of mine but he's definitely no lover of mine." I laughed. Perhaps it wasn't a straightforward answer, but it was good enough. I noticed how her arm brushed my own arm as she put her hands back into the sink

            I focused again on the dishes and started scraping at a crusty portion. After about a minute of scrubbing I decided to come back to that plate later and I moved onto the next one. Without warning, she said, "Do you ever think about Aerieth, Cloud?" I froze in my place, unsure of what to say. I couldn't bring myself to tell her about my dreams and how I saw her in them almost nightly. I couldn't tell her about my intermittent trips to the church. I couldn't tell her that I was falling in love with her when she died, and might have actually grown to marry her had I had the chance. Instead, I stole the words which RedXIII had told me earlier that day, to the best of my recollection. "If we allow ourselves to dwell on someone who's dead, then we in turn aren't allowing ourselves to move forward in life. If instead we decide to let them go, then we are no longer hindering ourselves and can then learn from their mistakes, using their experiences in life to improve our own."

            Damn that sounded good.

            Tifa looked at me longingly. "Cloud, that was amazing. I never knew you had words like that." I don't, I thought to myself. But I took advantage of the opportunity and snidely said, "I've always been a poet deep inside Tifa, you've just never noticed." Tifa splashed some water in my face, laughing. I totally forgot about my leather jacket as I returned the favor, and we soaked ourselves just like we were kids all over again.

            As it turned out, all the dishes were clean, so we didn't need to refill the sink with water. Instead we now had to mop the floor, which I admit, as a mercenary, I had no experience in. Tifa got out the mop and showed me how to use it and drain it. I felt like a total idiot. That was it? A five year old could do this and here I am, practically an adult, totally clueless on how to use a mop. "That's why we're good for each other," Tifa said smiling. "You're the stupid one that gets us into trouble, whereas I'm the smart one that pulls you out of it."

            I stopped and looked at her. Instantly she blushed and handed me the mop. "I'm going to go check on Meredith," is all she said as she turned and walked up the stairs. I couldn't help but notice that she wiped away a single tear as she neared the top.

            "I shoulda said something," I told Barrett later that night. "I should have stopped her. But it was the way she said, 'That's why we're good for each other,' that paralyzed me." I had already told him about what had happened inside and our little conversation. He was rather curious to discover why there had been a three minute period of laughing and screaming, and when I told him it was a water fight, he laughed loudly and slapped me on the back saying, "You're still just a damn kid, you know that Cloud? You and Tifa both. Just a bunch of $#% kids."

            I didn't say anything as I pried myself out of the dirt. Apparently Barrett didn't realize how hard he had him me, because he made no effort to help lift me up. I brushed off the dirt and waited for Barrett to stop laughing before I asked him, "So what were you going to tell me about Tifa?"

            His face became stern and dark. "Now Cloud, there's some stuff I'm gonna tell ya that I'm sure you already know about. And I'm also gonna tell you some stuff that'll probably make your head spin too, so listen up, cuz here goes."


	4. Chapter 4: A Dream and a Memory

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LOL! I just realized that you could totally have skipped this last chapter and the story probably would still make perfect since. That's okay though. Character development is pretty important to me when I write.

On with the show! Chapter 4 begins now!

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            "Remember how after the end of the war we all went our different ways? Yuffie back to Utai, Cid back to Rocket Town, you, me and Tifa back to Midgar, RedXIII back to Cosmo Canyon, Vincent to who knows where, and Cait Sith to the museum?" (No one exactly knew what had become of Cait Sith's robotic body. As a result we had all come up with our own ideas on just what happened to him. Barrett's was that his body is now locked up somewhere in what's left of the Shrina building, which he now affectionately calls the Museum. Personally, I think that it's still around somewhere in the slums helping out the poor people in rebuilding their damaged homes, but the truth is no one has seen him for weeks.) "Well, something I don't think you know is, just before we all split up, Cid asked Tifa to come with him back to Rocket Town. That's right. Cid wanted to take Tifa home. That son of a &%# actually thought she would come with him. Cid said he had good intentions, but honestly Cloud, do you think he had anything besides a one night stand in his mind for her? Hell no. I went and talked to Tifa after I found out. And here's what's crazy Cloud, she was thinking of saying _yes_. I knew that she wanted to say no. I could see it in her eyes. I even asked her if she wanted to say no. You know what she said Cloud? She said she did want to say no, but that she didn't have a damn clue what she'd do with her life if she said no."

            I knew what he was getting at. "She's been awful depressed lately, hasn't she? Depressed over me." "Damn right Cloud," Barrett said angrily. "It sounds to me like you've already noticed, but she loves you. She loves you with all her heart and it's driving her crazy. I've heard her say it in her sleep. Damn it Cloud! Why the hell haven't you done something about it? You've never even asked her out!" I saw his point but really didn't care to argue about it. I wanted to focus more on her dreams, not her feelings towards me. Maybe that's what Barrett was getting at though. Did he come out here to talk to me how she's feeling? How in her dreams she professes her undying love for me and he thinks it's high time I do something about it? I wanted to yell at him right then. To tell him to butt out of my business, just like I did to RedXIII, but I chose not to. I wanted to know more before I did anything rash like that. So I kept my mouth shut and listened.

            Barrett waited a minute to see if I would say anything back to him. Realizing that I wouldn't he continued with his story. "Anyway, I managed to convince Tifa to say no, to convince her that her life wasn't worth throwing away to some &$% ass-hole just because the love of her life doesn't see her for what she's worth." I couldn't help but sneer at that jab. But again, I held back my anger. "I can't but help seeing her face Cloud. She was crying when I finally convinced her to say no to him. Crying like a puppy dog. Come to think of it, that's what it is. You've got her on a leash Cloud."

            "You said that she was dreaming about some materia. What is that all about?" I said. I had had enough of his preaching so I, as calmly as I could, changed the subject. I think I did a pretty good job. Both at restraining my voice, and changing the subject. "Well, this is also interesting. Sometimes she dreams about Aerieth. Not near as often about you, but sometimes she's in there. I don't blame her at all for that. I do it too sometimes, how Sephiroth came from the sky and pierced her chest all the way through, pinning her into the floor. But for Tifa, it's hardly ever about that. It's almost always one of two things. The first is to her a nightmare…well I suppose their both nightmares to her, but the first has something to do with the life stream creating a new body for Aerieth, and how she comes on Tifa's wedding day and steals you, her groom, away from her. The other, doesn't have anything to do with you, Cloud. Instead she's walking up a staircase covered in flowers. She's running as fast as she can from something, and when she gets to the top of the stairs, there's Aerieth, holding a red materia she's never seen before. The moment she grabs it though, Sephiroth appears and kills her, just as he did back in the Forgotten City. She dies obviously, but as she dies, Jenova appears and says something like…oh man…this part is kind of new to me since she just told me about it last night…something like, He shall come again. Through the power of…something…he shall re-forge his own body, and …and….well I'm not the one who's having the dream so I can't explain it too well. Tifa can do a better job at…Cloud?"

            I didn't notice that my jaw was open. "Cloud?" Barrett said shaking me. I didn't say anything. There were some differences in our dreams, but the parallels of the stairs, the flowers, the materia, Sephiroth and Aerieth, were all too much to be a coincidence. I snapped myself out of my little coma and stopped Barrett from shaking me. "This is bad, Barrett." "&% Cloud! OF COURSE IT IS! Tifa is goin nuts and you're the only one who can do a damn &% thing about it." "Well duh Barrett. I'm going to go talk with Tifa. I should have done it earlier, but now I have a good reason to talk to her. This is too much of a coincidence for their not to be some meaning behind our dreams…" Barrett was looking at me strangely. "_Our_ dreams? I didn't have that freaky dream Cloud, it was Tifa who did, remember?" "Yes I know, Barrett, but…man…okay fine. I'll tell you. Just about every night for the past month I've had dreams about Aerieth and Sephiroth, as I'm sure we all have. But last night I had a dream that sounds strangely similar to what Tifa has been dreaming about recently. So much so that I don't think it's just a coincidence. Maybe the planet is trying to tell us both something…I wonder if RedXIII could shed some light on this…" Barrett eyed me closely, as if looking into my heart and seeing if I was still sane. After a moment he asked, "What does that dog have anything to do with this?" "Nothing, but I've always trusted him for his wisdom and intelligence. And besides, I ran into him earlier today and only ended up yelling at him for no good reason. I'm going to go find him and tell him about my…about _our _dreams actually. I'm going to take Tifa with me. Hopefully while were looking for him Tifa can explain the details of her dreams to me better." Barrett said nothing as I left him there in the garden.


	5. Chapter 5: A Dream and a Memory

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Well, chapter 4 was pretty short, so I'll try and make it up to you in this next one. Chapter 5 HO!

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            I walked up the stairs to the upper floor of the house, careful to avoid the creaky steps just like I had so long ago. As I neared Tifa's room I noticed that I heard some faint sniffling…was she crying in there? Oh man…she's been crying all this time. Now I never considered myself very good at understanding women's emotions, but this was like a slap in the face. She must be madly in love with me, and when she put herself on the line when she said, "That's why we're good for each other," and when I said nothing in return, that must have killed her. For the first time since I had met Tifa earlier today, I did something I was proud of my self for later: I walked in, without any hesitation.

            Tifa was lying on the bed, her backed turned toward me. She was trying to stop her tears, but wasn't doing a very good job. I said nothing as I sat next to her. She still wouldn't look at me. I noticed her hair. It shined in the semi-darkness of the room. It was also then that I noticed that her clothes were on the floor. My first reaction was to bolt out of the room, but I didn't want seem stupid when the reason I was here was to try to convince her to explain dreams to me, which would be no easy task. I put my elbows on my knees and sat there with my back turned toward her, saying nothing. It was she who spoke first.

                        "Barrett, did Cloud send you to say something to me? That &%. He can face Sephiroth but he can't face me. Not even to say he's sorry." She laughed a little but then went back to crying. Apparently she hadn't noticed it was me sitting next to her and not Barrett. I looked at her. Despite the bed sheets covering he body I could still make out the curves of her body, and I was suddenly insanely attracted to her. I controlled my hands and struggled to say something.

            "I'm sorry," is all I got out.

            I saw Tifa suddenly stop breathing, as if she had just been punched in the gut. I knew I had to explain myself fast or face the consequences later. "I'm sorry Tifa. I really am. I've never been one to talk. You know that. I've always been one who favored the whole strong and silent thing. But I guess I need to change a little, Tifa. I came in here to talk…I've been doing that a lot lately it seems. Man, I miss the old days when all we had to do was share a few words and then go and kick the crap out of something." I laughed a little, Tifa didn't. "Well, I guess I'll get to the point then. Barrett talked to me about one of your dreams…" "Don't say it Cloud," Tifa turned towards me. I struggled to look only at her face, which was smeared from her mascara and her tears. "That whole marriage thing…it's…it's just a dream that's all," she said. I was taken aback. I had totally forgotten about her other dream. The one where Aerieth shows up and steals me away from her while on the alter. I don't know what came over me just then, but I touched her face with my hand. "That's not what I meant, Tifa." She looked at me with her deep brown eyes. They reflected the light from the room so that I could see everything around me through her eyes, and yet, all I could see at that moment, was the endless well of eternity that lied within them. It frightened me and yet excited me at the exact same time. My hand continued to stroke her cheek slowly, and it was then that I noticed her hand was holding mine. My first impulse was to pull away, that this whole thing was a mistake, but I couldn't move away from her eyes.

            "Tifa," I finally managed to say. "Remember when we were kids and I promised you that I'd eventually become a big shot in the military and take you away some day?" Tifa nodded, and she leaned towards me. "Well…I…uh…" She was still covering herself with the bed sheets, but she was close to me, way to close. "I don't think I'm quite ready to do that just yet." Her eyes looked sorrowfully at me, and I could tell she was about to cry again. "Yet, Tifa…I plan to fulfill that promise. I really do. Just not yet…" She lowered her head on my shoulder and balled. I put my arms around her and held her for a long time…

            She and I didn't sleep that night. We just held each other for a long time. Finally after probably an hour or so I started to talk to her, this time more to the point of why I had originally came to see her. I wanted her to explain her dream to me, and also to help me find RedXIII, who might be able to decipher our dreams for us. It was then that I recounted my own version of the dream I had had the night before, and also of my run in with RedXIII at Aerieth's church. Perhaps it was a mistake that I told her, but told her I did. After words I was surprised by her reaction to what I was telling her. She said, "I knew you were going there Cloud. I followed you one day, probably a week after the end of the war. I saw you go into the church. It was then I knew that your heart was still stuck on her…that was when I started having the dreams of Aerieth stealing you away from me at the alter. That's when my mood changed, as I'm sure Barrett has told you about." I chuckled. "Yah, he did…" I said.

            When it came time for her to tell me the details of her dreams, she told me that she would rather just say it all once in front of RedXIII and myself, instead of have to tell it twice. I understood that. So I let it go.

It was probably two o'clock in the morning when I finally stood up. I hadn't moved from my sitting position since when I went in to talk with her somewhere around ten. I popped my back and groaned as my legs suddenly had blood flowing back into them. Tifa asked, "Where are you going?" "Well," I responded, "I'm going to go find RedXIII. It's already too late at night for me to sleep, and since I'm eager to go find him, I might as well start now." I wanted Tifa to come with me, but I didn't dare ask her. Never mess with a girl and her beauty sleep. But that ended up not mattering at all. "I'm coming with you," she said. I was relieved. I turned my back as I heard her get out of the bed. I waited and heard her put on her clothes. She was putting them on quickly, like she was eager to leave. Eventually she said, "Cloud…" I turned around, but never saw the most painful &%$ slap of my life come across my face. My cheek throbbed and I looked at her puzzled. "That's for coming in my room without permission," Then I saw her lean towards me and kiss me. Her lips were firm but moist, and again, my first reaction was to turn away, but instead I ended up putting my arms around her warm, soft body to enjoy the moment. "And what was that for?" I asked, as she finally pulled away. "For fulfilling your promise," she responded. "But I told you, I haven't done that yet." "Yes you have, Cloud. You just don't know it." We left the room, and quietly moved downstairs. She was curious how I had managed to learn where exactly to step to avoid the creaks. I told her I knew everything. She looked at me fiercely but lovingly. That same feeling of fear and excitement rushed through my veins, and we left the house. My hand reached for hers. It the first thing I had ever done to further any relationship with a girl, ever. She smiled and received it.

            That was the craziest and most exciting night of my life. I didn't know it then, but that feeling was going to be cut short very soon…


	6. Chapter 6: A Dream and a Memory

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When I write, I often don't plan things too well ahead of time. Last chapter was an excellent example of that. But this will be interesting for later, because I do have some things planned for Cloud and the gang very soon, so let's see how Cloud and Tifa hold up against it. Chapter 6, let's go!

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Ever since the Shrina Corporation fell into ruin, a lot of the old guards and soldiers who had lost their jobs started creating their own little gangs. They always referred to them as "clubs" however, because gangs are illegal, for obvious reasons. Because of this it's now very dangerous to stroll around Midgar at night, especially anywhere near a bar. All it takes is one plastered Shrina soldier to take a swing at you and next thing you know you'll have an entire "club" on you.

Tifa and I walked down the Wall Market totally oblivious to what was going around us. I was lost in thought. One minute I was thinking about my dream, the next about RedXIII, the next about the planet and what it might be trying to tell Tifa and I, the next, Tifa, her eyes, her kiss.

As we walked down Wall Market I suddenly became aware of my surroundings after I started hearing some cat calls. Tifa gripped my hand more tightly, and I did the same to try and reassure her. Maybe this hadn't been such a good idea. As expected, a club of ex-Shrinas were watching us. Apparently one recognized me. He took a step back and looked at me with a sense of hate that you can only give to a guy who had managed to destroy the only life you ever knew. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he whispered in his friends' ears, and saw to my amusement their countenances change almost instantly into that same face that screamed hatred.

I trusted Tifa. At that moment I didn't really have much of a choice. I knew I was no good at boxing. Had I had a sword I could have walked a little easier, walked a little straighter, and I would have had the confidence that had any one of them tried to pick a fight I could have ripped him to shreds…but I didn't and so, with my head lowered a little, I picked up my pace.

I sensed eyes following me.

I heard silence. Silence. That sound by definition means danger to me.

"Heh. Look boys! It's Cloud Strife! If it ain't that %$ himself in the flesh!" I heard somebody say in front of me. Tifa let go of my hand and popped her knuckles. She looked piercingly into the pale darkness ahead of us, trying to discern a face, a body, anything. I was doing the same, but I was distracted by the group of at least 6 guys walking slowly up behind us. Tifa wasn't saying anything, and nor was I. For once I was glad I had no words.

"Who's this girl he's got with him I wonder?" said a voice behind me. "It's not his body guard is it? Cloud Strife! The man that took down the Shrina Corporation needing a body guard! HA!" "No man, he ain't got no body guard," said another voice. "Cloud Strife's one tough %$#. He don need a body guard. Maybe he's picked her up. Tell me Cloud, how much for a broad like her? Must charge a high price; she's a real hooker…excuse me, _looker._" A few of them laughed and I tensed up in anger. My arm bulged as my muscles prepared to pulverize the next guy to even think about calling Tifa anything like that again. All I heard though was laughing, and suddenly a glint of something shiny. Tifa grabbed my arm and pulled me aside.

"Hey look boys! The dames taking him away! Hey maybe _she_ picked him…so is this how you support yourself Cloud?" More laughs came as I yanked myself free of Tifa's grip. I heard someone scream NO as I lunged at the guy who had just said that comment. My hand hit something hard and I heard a crack. I still couldn't see very well because of the darkness, but judging by the groans of the guy on the ground and the blood on my hand I figured I had nailed the guy right in the nose.

SLASH…

I fell over doubled in pain. The icy cold of a metal object had slashed my side. Somehow the person wielding the knife had missed my arm, but I still felt my life seeping away slowly out my side.

'What am I doing?' I thought. 'I'm not going to give up this easy!'

With all the tenacity I had shown when I fought Sephiroth, I stood up, seemingly unharmed, and looked around until I saw the first uncertain face near me. I lunged at him and swung, swung, swung…My knuckles hurt as I grabbed a guy that had moved behind me and I threw him into a pole. I picked out another guy and dove into him, knocking him into a pile of crates. A moment later I heard a gun shot and again a heard a scream and then silence.

No…not silence.

I checked my body and feeling no new wounds I knew there was only one person who could have been hurt.

"TIFA!!!!!"

Red light flashed around me. My eyes glowed and I lost control. There were only three left that I saw, but suddenly it didn't seem enough. I laughed as I watched my body break out of its limit. Like a movie I moved forward and hit the closest one to me once in the head and then twice in the stomach. I saw him falling over groaning and then saw my hands clasp together and bash the middle of his back. I heard a deafening thud…

I moved toward the next. In what seemed like slow motion I kneed him in the stomach, grabbed his head, and then bashed it at least seven times into the same knee. I felt blood…

Blood…why was I doing this? Why such brutality?

I regained control of myself and then looked around at the devastation I had just caused to these two guys. Neither of them were conscious, and if they were I really couldn't imagine the screams of pain I would be hearing.

BOOM!

I had totally forgotten about the last one. The one with the gun.

I fell on my knees and pressed my hand to my chest. I felt my lungs fill liquid and I started to cough up blood.

"Serves you right you &%$ son of a &%$."

He grabbed my hair and I coughed out the dark blood in my throat. I heard him cock his gun and put it to my forehead…


	7. Chapter 7: A Dream and a Memory

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I'm sorry if that offended anyone, I knew I was walking on thin ice with the hooker comment, but I had to get Cloud riled somehow. It did the trick too.

If you're reading this then you know that the story isn't over. Well, we're actually far from being over. Let the story continue! Chapter 7!

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I waited…

And waited…

Was I dead already? Will Aerieth be there to welcome me home? Will Tifa be there too I wonder? I opened my eyes and saw the haze of Tifa directly in front of me. She was surrounded in green. Life stream? She had a face that showed concern, but she also was smiling. I knew I had to be dead. No one's smiling after they get shot…if they're still alive that is. She put her arms around me and I heard someone growl out a word that sounded something like "Restore…"

Huh?

My eyes gradually became clearer. I saw my blood stained jacket and saw the rip in its side. I also saw, or felt is probably a better word, the cut in my side closing and healing. I felt the bullet eject itself from out of its entry wound and then that wound too began to close and heal itself.

I knew this feeling.

I coughed out the last of the drying blood out of my lungs and stood up. My strength returning, I said to no one in particular, "What just happened?"

"I happened," I heard a voice growl. "And you're lucky I've been following you Cloud. You'd be dead if it weren't for me."

"It seems I owe you my life again old friend," I replied. RedXIII lay sitting before me. He scratched his ears, and then sniffed at one of the ten unconscious bodies around me. Ten! I thought there was only six or seven at the most. Jeez. What had I got myself into?

"The smell of hate is never something you humans should have to endure. I have to deal with it all the time. You're really lucky in that respect too Cloud. You and Tifa both." I looked at Tifa and then remembered the gunshot followed by the silence that triggered my new non-sword limit. She spoke first saying, "After you broke free from my grip I fought one of the guys and took him out. (She motions toward a guy in the corner, with a broken arm and dislocated jaw). After that though, everything went black. I'm assuming that that was from the gunshot I received to the chest. If it wasn't for RedXIII, we'd both have died." So that's what the green light was, I thought. The Restore materia at work, not the Life Stream. I turned to RedXIII and said, "I'm sorry RedXIII, I just…I couldn't handle what they were saying." "As well you shouldn't have," he said. "If I had a mate and they were making comments like that I would have had no trouble going for their throat." "Mate?" I said to myself, looking at Tifa. I looked at Tifa, expecting some sort of sarcastic rebuttal that she had always given to such a comment, but I heard none. Instead I saw her gaze up at me. She was waiting for me to say something, to reassure her, to tell her that I agreed with the idea of "mate." But how does someone agree to something like that so suddenly? It was true that Tifa meant more to me then anything else in the world right now, but how long would that last? On the other hand I preferred her to any other girl I knew. Except maybe Aerieth…Oh shut up Cloud. Aerieth is dead! D-E-A-D, DEAD. There's no turning back. And besides, you never really _knew_ her, so how could you really have loved her?

I was saying this all in my head, thinking to myself in the second person, as if to emphasize my thoughts, but after a long silence, I knew I had to respond sometime.

"Yah…I guess you could say that," I said turning Tifa. Her eyes were beginning to fill with tears, and she rushed at me hugging my chest hard. "I thought I had lost you Tifa. I never truly realized the danger I had put you in. I'm sorry." Once again, I never saw the slap come across my face. Girls are so fickle. One minute their hugging you saying "I'm glad you're okay," the next they're slapping up side the face saying "Never do that again!" And that's basically what Tifa said next. "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN CLOUD!" she said with a tone I had never heard before. She pointed at me as she said, "I was trying to pull you out of there, to pull you inside the store for safety. And what do you do? You go at them like a madman and almost get yourself killed!" "Do you really think a store would have made a world of difference?" I said, angrier then I intended. It must have been the slap that had suddenly put me in a bad mood. It was still throbbing. "They had decided to attack me the moment that one (I motioned to the one amidst the pile of crates) recognized me. Store or no, they would have followed." Tifa was also growing irritated. "Open your eyes Cloud! Where are we?" "The Wall Market," I said sounding stupid. "And where did you sell all of your swords after the war?" "At the…" I looked up and saw the sign that read, 'Marty's weapons, ammo, and army surplus.' "Oh…" I saw her point now. All I needed to do was walk in there and they, knowing the vast amounts of weapons in there, probably wouldn't have followed. And if they had, all I would have had to do was slap down a couple hundred Gil, grabbed one of my old swords that I had sold here, started swinging, and that would have been the end of that fight. "You're so dense Cloud." "But…" I was shocked. I wasn't sure why, but that comment really hurt inside. "But…I just…didn't want you to have to deal with the things they were saying about you. About us. I didn't want you to hear that %$#." I looked away so I could avoid her gaze. I didn't feel like looking at her right then. But I felt her hand touch my cheek and bring my eyes to meet hers anyway. "I know…" she said.

I think we grew to understand each other a little bit more right then.

"Ahem," RedXIII said. I took Tifa's hand in my own and brought it down away from my face. I then turned to RedXIII. "What, may I ask, were you two doing out late at night? And why Cloud, were you without a sword? Not that you didn't handle those guys pretty good without one, but you are much better with a sword." Tifa responded before I could. "Well, Cloud hasn't needed his swords since the end of the war, so to walk around downtown holding one at your side would seem…" "Odd." I chimed in. "Yah, to say the least," she said, "and we were out late because we were looking for you." "Me?" he said, his ears perking up. "Yes you." I said. "We think the planet is trying to tell us something, and since you're the smartest being we know now that Bugenhagen is gone (RedXIII bowed his head at this), we need you to try and decipher it for us."

He looked up. "_It_?" "Yes, our dreams," I said. "We've both had eerily similar dreams lately. Now there's some variation between them, but it's still too much of a coincidence for there to not be some meaning in it. That's why we went looking for you." There was a pause before RedXIII said anything. "Bugenhagen would have been better at interpreting dreams…" he finally said lowering his head. Tifa leaned down and scratched his ear. "We'd rather talk to you anytime RedXIII," she said. RedXIII smiled, although I wasn't exactly sure if it was because of her words or because she had found a good spot behind his ear.

After a moment, I motioned for Tifa to sit down on a nearby bench and for RedXIII to do the same. "Well, I have yet to hear Tifa's side of the dream, so we can start there." "No Cloud, give him your version first." I looked at her. "Please?" "Alright," I said. She sat next to me, put her arm around mine, interlocked our fingers, and put her head on my shoulder. These gestures of affection were still new to me, and in all honesty I found them bizarre, but intriguing and attractive all the same. Turning to RedXIII who was sitting patiently in front of us, I said, "I guess I'll go first..."


	8. Chapter 8: A Dream and a Memory

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I won't really bother doing a long intro. Oh, and sorry again if you're annoyed on how I spell Aeris' name. It's just always been Aerieth to me…I can't change that. Sorry.

On to chapter 8.

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            I recounted my story of the dream to him. I also said I was sorry to him several times for when I had yelled at him earlier today. He didn't deserve it. He nodded when I said this, and then kind of did a little bouncing of his head to tell me he wanted me to go on with the story. I finished the dream, and then, because Tifa appeared asleep on my shoulder (whether she was asleep or just pretending to be asleep so she didn't have to talk I never found out), I talked a little more about what had happened during the day. I left the details of what happened inside Tifa's bedroom vague…but then again there wasn't much to tell. I had walked in, she confused me for Barrett, I noticed she wasn't wearing hardly anything underneath the bed sheets, we talked, we reconciled, she tried to kiss me, I told her I wasn't ready yet to "take her away," and then we held each other for a long time. After that, she dressed, she slapped and then kissed me, and we left. Whoop de freakin do.

            And yet those moments with her had meant more to me then anything ever had before. I had never realized what she meant to me until then. To tell you the truth, I'm not sure if it's love. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. All I know is that I'm glad I'm with her right now, and that any thought of Aerieth, though sweet, doesn't seem to add up to what I'm holding in my hand right now…

            I was thinking these private thoughts but somehow at the same time managed to be talking to Red XIII at the exact same time. After a time I finally ran out of stories on how I had lugged boulders three times my size out of sector seven, much to the amazement of several young ladies who were watching, as well as to the pain of my back. I looked next to me and saw Tifa curled next to me. I was amazed how her hair seemed perfect even at this late of night. I also noticed how her earring offset her hair with a gentle golden hue. It was not the first time tonight she had captivated me.

            Again it came time for someone to speak, but Tifa still looked like she was asleep (I still had doubts if she was or wasn't) so I asked Red XIII to explain why he originally came to Midgar.

            "Well, it was for two reasons. The first was," he paused, "I was bored." "Bored?" I said skeptically. "Yes…Cosmo Canyon is my home and always will be. But something about our quest to destroy Sephiroth changed it. Or perhaps it was me who changed. Probably both…" again a pause. "Well, my family has always by tradition guarded Cosmo Canyon from the evils around it. When I went back a month ago I was eager to test my new strength and skills against the vast amount of mindless creatures that always stood by ready to pounce on the town, or through the sealed gate."

            He lowered his head in thought, and I waited. Finally he continued. "Some say that when Meteor came, the creatures that had always harried Cosmo Canyon became scared and ran off. Personally I don't believe that, because I met and fought many creatures on my journey home. Instead, I believe that when Meteor was destroyed, something in me changed. I love my home, but I have gotten so used to defeating the undefeatable, that the challenges posed at home seemed like nothing."

            I understood what Red XIII was saying, and yet I was totally confused. This wasn't the Red XIII I knew. He had always been the patient wise man…err…dog…that we could turn to. He had always told stories of home. He had often talked on how he loved how peaceful his home was and how he longed to return there, and get away from the war. He had, well, not right away, but after he discovered how his father Seto had died, he had always talked of his fathers brave actions, and how he looked forward to going home and protecting the very land that his father had sacrificed his life for.

            Now he was telling me that he was bored with his homeland.

            "So I decided, Cloud, to come to Midgar. I thought that perhaps there was something I could do here. I realize now that my presence is not needed, and I plan to return to Cosmo Canyon tomorrow, but if nothing else I'm glad to see you two again." "Same to you, Nanaki," I said. He beamed when I said his true name.

            "What was the other reason you came here for?" I asked. "Ah yes," he replied. "Recently I had a dream as well. It was different and not as troubling as yours sounded, but it definitely is interesting. I had a dream where I was a pillar of white light descending from a cloud. I walked up to it and realized it was an actual pillar. Not just a pillar of light, but an actual pillar. I moved forward and touched it. Its touch brought a feeling of comfort and reassurance. At the same time I heard a voice. It was pleading something. But not the way someone pleads for what they need, it was the way somebody pleads when they are pleading for the needs of another. I realized it was a prayer. Soon the prayer ended and the bright pillar that was before me lifted into the heavens. In its place was a small white stone. I moved forward and touched it. This time I heard another voice. It too was a prayer, but this time it was dark, and almost chant-like. It was the sound of evil. I noticed that the more I listed to the chanting the more the world around me changed. I was no longer in a peaceful meadow; I was now in a bustling city. It was Midgar. I also noticed that the white stone in front of me had become red. Deep red." He stopped his story and looked at me. "At this point, I woke up. When I woke up, I found a red stone lying next to me." He pointed to the small red materia on his necklace. "I realized then that the dream had purpose, although I'm still not sure what. I also thought that perhaps the reason why Midgar appeared briefly in my dream was because I could discover the meaning of the dream in more detail if I went there. Between that dream and my lack of patience, I decided to leave."

            "Have you discovered what that materia does?" I asked. "No, and that is a puzzle to me, a puzzle which I believed Midgar was going to reveal to me. However I was wrong. So this materia must remain an enigma for the time being."

            I stared at him for a moment, saying nothing. It was then that I felt Tifa stir. She brought her head lower to my chest and then she breathed in deep…was she just taking a deep breath as people sometimes do when they're waking up, or was she actually _smelling_ me, like I thought she was? "That's weird…" I accidentally said aloud. "Mmmm….what's weird, Cloud?" I heard her say. She brought her head up and yawned. "Nothing…" I said. She let go of my hand and stretched. Red XIII put his head in the air. I could tell he was sniffing something. Tifa apparently didn't notice. Suddenly Red XIII stopped, looked at Tifa (who was still stretching her arms), and then at me. He winked at me, and then turning to Tifa said, "It is good that you have awakened, Tifa. Because now it is your turn to tell me about your dream."


	9. Chapter 9: A Dream and a Memory

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Blah blah blah….on with the show! Chapter 9!

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Tifa popped her knuckles and then bowed her head. I think she was trying to remember the details of the dream. Eventually she lifted her head and recounted her dream.

"My dream is a little different then Cloud's, but it is similar," she started. "In my dream, I too am walking up a grand staircase covered in flowers. In my dream though, they're not roses, they're daffodils. Whenever I reach to touch one, it turns away. I don't know, it just, turns away. Some of them I actually grab…but even still, no matter what I do, they refuse to look at me." "That's funny…in mine they just turned to ash…" I said. Tifa glared at me. "Shut up Cloud, this is my story." Wow…it must really be late or something. Or is she always this edgy? No…she usually isn't. Usually. "I give up trying to look at the flowers and start climbing the staircase. It's then that I notice that the staircase is starting to fall apart behind me. I run as fast as I can up the staircase trying to reach the top, and I just manage to get there before the last stair falls out from underneath me. I look around. I see a small circular room with a little garden in the middle. The garden is full of daffodils all pointing towards the center. And in the center…" she paused, "…is Aerieth. She's kneeling down, praying. I move towards her and that's when she looks up. She stands up and takes something out of her pocket. It's a small white materia. She hands it to me. I try to ask her, "What is it?" but just as I do, Sephiroth appears out of the sky and runs his sword through her chest, just like he did in the forgotten city." She bowed her head and brushed away a tear. "After a moment, both Sephiroth and Aerieth disappear, leaving me in the circular room with the materia. But it's not white any more. Now it's red. I look at it and touch it. It's then that I hear some sort of chanting." Red XIII pricked his ears up at this. "…it sounded dark, menacing. It wasn't English, but I didn't need to know what it said to know who was saying it. It was Jenova. I would recognize that voice anywhere. I drop the red materia, and the moment it touches the ground, suddenly Jenova appears. She is…well…I don't remember what exactly she looked like. She was smaller then any of her previous forms; not a whole lot bigger then any of us. But I could tell that she was busy doing something, or saying something. It was then that suddenly I knew the translation of her words." She paused again. Red XIII and I both seemed to lean towards her just a little bit as we waited impatiently for the rest of her story. In a deeper voice then she usually spoke, Tifa said, "'What once was white, I shall turn into blight. What once was black, now as prophesied will come back. Through the power of my spirit, a new reign shall emerge. I shall re-forge his body, reborn, renewed.'" She paused. "It was then that she turned…well…turned isn't a very good word…I guess _looked_ at me. She said, this time in plain English, 'Your friends have fought me, and now to no avail. The life stream has fought me, and now I have prevailed. Even the knowledge of the one, the keeper of the white, has failed to quench my thirst, my desire to destroy all that is right.'" She paused again. "My dream ends there, but I remember that this morning, just as I woke up, I thought I heard somebody say, 'Now…perish.' I mean, it could have been the wind, but I don't know."

Red XIII looked at us both. He then looked up at the sky. The moon was waning, and the sky was starting to give a bluish tint…dawn was approaching.

He spoke. "In the past, the dawn was always a welcome sight for the traveler. It meant the start of a new day, and the end of the dangers that always come out at night. But it seems the dawn can only bring us more danger then any we've experienced before." He stopped to look at our confused faces. "The details of your dreams are hazy to me. I have my ideas on what exactly the stairs and flowers represent, but I'm not sure. What I am sure though is this. Aerieth is calling us. She was praying in Tifa's dream when she first saw her. That is always symbolic of a message. In my dream I also heard somebody praying, which by the way is another small reason why I knew that my dream had significance. Also, in both your dreams you are given a white materia. I think this is THE white materia. But it's interesting because in both your dreams, the white materia turns red colored. That is also still a puzzle to me. In your dream Cloud, Sephiroth appears, kills Aerieth, and then laughs until you wake up. This could mean that something is triumphing over you…or perhaps not something, but someone." He turned to Tifa. "In your dream, after Sephiroth kills Aerieth, they disappear. You drop the now red materia and when it hits the ground, Jenova appears. Now usually in dreams we only see things that we are familiar with, or have seen before. We've all seen Jenova before, but you said yourself this was an entirely new Jenova, and much smaller then any of the previous Jenovas. Whenever we see something entirely new in our dream, that is also another symbol that this dream has a purpose behind it.

"In short, I think that your dreams mean this: something is wrong with the white materia deep in the Earth. Jenova has probably something to do with it." "But I thought we destroyed Jenova," I interrupted. "Yes we did," Red XIII said, "but didn't we destroy her FOUR times? And she came back after each time. I'm thinking that she may have come back again. Now, this next part is fairly obvious, but in Tifa's dream, Jenova says that she shall re-forge a body. Well, there is only one person that she could possibly want to resurrect." "Sephiroth…" Tifa and I said together. "Of course, and that's why we must act immediately. Sephiroth is using Jenova to create himself a new body, one that will probably be much stronger then his previous form. We must go back into the Final Dungeon, find Jenova, and destroy her, and I mean DESTROY her, before she can finish her work."

Up until right then I had thought that this night was the best night of my life.

Now it was the worst.


	10. Chapter 10: A Dream and a Memory

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I suppose now would be a good time for a disclaimer. I don't own any of the characters in this story. Talk to Squaresoft if you want to buy them or something, not me. In fact the only part of this story which I can legitimately claim as my own is the story itself. A Dream and a Memory, and all events that take place in its entirety belong to me…just not the people in it.

Yah…so I think that covered it. Now watch, I probably forgot to mention something that Squaresoft technically owns and they'll end up suing me anyway. If that happens, expect a new FF7 based story titled, "Cloud Strife made me poor…" in the not too distant future. Let's hope it never happens.

On that wonderful note, on with the show! Chapter 10!

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"But I thought we destroyed Jenova…back in the Final Dungeon we destroyed her right?" I heard Tifa ask on our way back to Aerieth's house. I was equally dumbfounded. I myself had delivered the final blow to Jenova, with Cid and Yuffie at my side at the time. Between repeated castings of Lightning 3, Ultima, various summon spells, and a few stabs and slashes, we had literally turned Jenova into a pile of dust. But there was always that one part that, "…we didn't destroy in time." I said aloud. Tifa and Red XIII looked up confused at me. "Oh sorry. Uh…I was just thinking out loud. Remember…wait…neither of you two were there. Crap. OK. Here's what happened. After Cid, Yuffie and I killed Jenova, we made quick work of her body to make sure she wouldn't come back. But just as we were about to fry her very last tentacle, the floor fell out beneath us, plummeting us into the white materia." "Then Jenova must have gathered enough energy into the last remaining tentacle to regenerate a new body for herself," Red XIII concluded. Tifa looked a little frightened. "So, you're saying that the Jenova I saw in my dream is an actual new Jenova?" "Yes." Red XIII said. Tifa lowered her head.

We made it back to Aerieth's house, just as the sun finally lifted its bright head into the sky. Barrett was snoring…we could hear it from all the way outside. "How do you sleep with that?" I asked Tifa, trying to lighten the mood. She didn't answer. She didn't even look up to acknowledge that I had said anything. She must have been really lost in her own thoughts right then.

Red XIII paused outside the door. "Tifa, go get Barrett for me. I want to talk to him." I opened the door for Tifa and started to follow her in. "Wait, Cloud. I want to talk to you alone for a minute." "…Ok…" Tifa looked a little puzzled, but she went upstairs, and I shut the front door behind me. Red XIII looked up. "There's a part of the dreams which I didn't tell you the interpretation of." "Oh? What's that?" I asked. "It's the significance of the red materia as opposed to the white materia. You know, the one part that is common in _all_ of our dreams." "Oh yah," I said. "We didn't even talk about that did we?" "No," he said, "and part of the reason…well…first of all it wasn't clear to me right away. In all honesty I'm still not exactly sure what it means, but the main reason I said nothing is because, though this concerns Tifa, it really doesn't have much to do with her as it does you." I looked at him skeptically. "Go on…" "Well," he said, "I gave it a lot thought on our walk home, and here's what believe the interpretation of the red materia is.

"In all of our dreams the white materia is replaced by a red one. My first thought was that each materia represented something different, and that threw me for a little while. However, I noticed that in all our dreams the white materia was not just replaced by a red one, rather it transformed into it. I believe this to mean that they are one materia—one in the same." "OK…what's your point?" I asked. "Cloud, have you forgotten what the white materia does?" Red XIII said critically. "No, of course not. It was a shield that if called upon early enough would effectively block the black materia. However, if cast too late, its power would reverse and aid the black materia's power, as we saw with Midgar." "And, as we all saw," Red XIII interrupted, "the white materia is the single strongest materia of all for that very purpose. But Cloud, something you probably don't know, is if the white materia is powerful enough to conquer the black materia, which is the embodiment of death, then the white materia must also therefore be able to conquer death itself, because the white materia is the embodiment of life." "And that's how Jenova is resurrecting Sephiroth: by using the white materia." I said, "I get that now. But how does this concern me more then Tifa?" Red XIII paused a moment. "The more powerful the materia, the more focus and concentration is needed to be able to cast it. You know this. In order to be able to cast Knights of the Round, you have to focus all of your feelings into channeling and summoning its power, correct?" "Yah…duh" I said. "Well, the black and white materia are both several times stronger then the Knights of the Rounds materia" Red XIII continued. "So what, I ask you, does it take to call upon these materia in order to use their power?" I felt really stupid right then…like I was a five year old being quizzed by the village wise man. "Uh…a lot of concentration?" "Well, yes that," Red XIII said, "but more then concentration, you need power, Cloud." "I still don't get what you're saying, Red XIII" I interrupted. "And I still don't understand how this concerns me any more then Tifa." "Because Cloud," he said, "in order to use the white materia you need sheer will, mental energy, and _power. _And if Jenova is powerful enough to use the white materia to bring Sephiroth back, then you, who have already proven yourself stronger then her three times already, should also be able to call upon it's power…to perhaps bring back an old friend."

It hit me like a ton of bricks.

"Why the HELL didn't you ever mention this before?" I yelled. Red XIII lowered his voice in the attempt to remind me to remain quiet. He whispered, "Because Cloud, as you saw, when the white materia was finally summoned, the white materia ended up pretty much destroying the Final Dungeon, meaning that any path once leading to the life stream would also now be destroyed, or at the very least too dangerous to attempt to navigate down to. Besides, like I said earlier, it is better to let the dead die, rather then dwell on their life." He paused in thought. He then said, "At least that's what I used to think. But now…given the circumstances of her death, why shouldn't we try and bring her back? I mean…it's not like she ever asked to die anyway…"

Despite the foreboding danger that now came with the prospect of re-entering the final dungeon and having to fight Jenova again, I felt exhilarated. If what Red XIII says is true, then maybe, if I'm strong enough, maybe I too could use the white materia to bring back Aerieth…just maybe…and if I could bring her back…

I smiled.

Inside the house, Tifa had not yet awoken Barrett. Instead she had listened to the whole conversation by pressing her ear to the upstairs window. By the end of the conversation she was on her knees. She knew what was going through Clouds mind right then. In between uncontrollable sobs, she said to herself, "No….no….I've lost him…again…to her…but this time…for the last time…"


	11. Chapter 11: A Dream and a Memory

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Sorry for taking so long to post this next chapter. My dad has been hording the computer lately. See, my family is starting a new business. It was originally my mom's idea. We design bracelets and we also decorate dog collars using beads and stuff. Well, we finally have a website to try and advertise our products, and my dad in his infinite computer wisdom tried to update the website. It took him four hours to upload a whopping three photos. 4 hours! I was planning to use that time to finish these next two chapters, which I think you'll enjoy, but honestly. 4 hours for only 3 photos!

By the way, if you want to see our site-in-progress, go to:

mollycoddledesigns.com

I hope you enjoy the chapter 11!

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The first thing that I did after talking to Red XIII was go sit in the flowers. Most of them were withered and already dead. But thinking about them gave me hope. Aerieth would be coming back. She would make sure that all these flowers bloom once again, and then I…err, we, could find out if what we were feeling about each other just before she died would also bloom as well.

I felt totally at ease, but at the same time, giddy, like a kid feels when he knows that tomorrow is Christmas.

But then again, Christmas never this complicated.

"Tifa," I said to myself, no longer looking at the flowers. "I….I….I'm totally confused." I looked up towards Aerieth's house and noticed that Barrett had stopped snoring. I also noticed that Red XIII was still sitting on the porch, so Barrett probably wasn't up yet. I sat back and looked at the sun. It was then that I heard my stomach growling. I hadn't had anything to eat since the night before. I stood up and thought about going inside, but I decided against it. I didn't live there. It would be rude to try and ask for more food. It was at that point that the thought crossed my mind to go get Tifa and invite her to go get something to eat with me, but I decided against it. I wanted to think on my own. And besides, though Tifa was always a better thinker then me, I was worried that if she started asking questions about what Red XIII and I had talked about, that I would be put into a situation in which I would have to tell her the exact details of what Red XIII and I had planned for Aerieth. And if I was put into that situation, I really didn't want to see her reaction. Tifa and Aerieth had always liked each other, but that was before Tifa found out that I was falling in love with her, and that the feelings were probably mutual. I was just lucky that she found this out after she had died. But now that she was coming back…what would she do? Whatever she would do, I didn't want to present when it happened.

I walked to the porch where Red XIII lay sitting with his tail swishing back and forth. "I'm going to go get some grub. I'll be back in a little while. If Tifa asks why I left without her, tell her that I wanted to think for a little while." Red XIII nodded, and I left.

I ended up walking all the way to sector 5 where my apartment was. By the time I got there I still hadn't made any decisions and had only succeeded in determining that Tifa would probably make a better mom. My reasoning behind this was that she had beaten many an enemy to death with her fists alone, so she obviously was incredibly strong. Now turn those fists into spankings. If I were one of her kids, I would be so terrified of her spankings that I would never do anything bad. Ever.

I walked to my apartment first. I took a shower and changed into my fighting garb. Jenova was going to be one heck of a battle. I could feel it. I grabbed my Ultima Sword, my Escort Guard, my Ribbon, as well as my host of materia, and some cash too. I locked the door behind me and headed for the closest burger joint.

The lady at the counter acted kind of strangely when I went up to her to place my order. It must have been the gigantic sword on my back. Or maybe it was my teeth. I had forgotten to brush them after my shower.

I sat down at one of the seats and tried to avoid some of the eyes that were staring at me. Most of the people in this sector had found out who I was by now, and they always gawked at me. Some thought of me as a hero, others, like the "club" I had run into last night, thought me a villain worthy to be put on "Midgar's Most Wanted." Personally I didn't care what they thought, because I had some serious thinking to do.

I had known Tifa ever since I was a kid. Back then I had had a major crush on her, but mostly because she was the only person I knew that treated me normally. Actually, she was the only person that I remember that didn't seem to care that I had spiky hair, and my eyes kind of glowed a little at night because of the life stream poisoning, which I later found out was because I was a screwed up clone of Sephiroth. Speaking of which, I still haven't found out just which memories of my youth are genuine. Most of my memories are really screwed up. Some of them actually happened. Some of them happened, but I remember them wrong. Most however, never happened. Come to think of it, it was Tifa who helped me figure out my true past…and also helped me out of my insanity following the life stream poisoning.

Whenever I think of my memories with Tifa, two memories always stick out. I don't know why I keep on thinking of these particular two, I just do. The weird thing is however, one of them never happened the way I remember. It was when I returned to Nibelheim as a member of SOLDIER, and was Sephiroth's right hand man. Tifa came out looking for me and I greeted her, my old friend, with pride in my heart knowing that I had succeeded in becoming a big shot in the military.

Unfortunately, that's not the way it actually happened. What really happened was I was one of the flunkies in the military, and Sephiroth's real right hand man was a guy named Zach. I still wish that that particular memory actually _had_ happened. I really wished that I could have fulfilled that promise I gave to her a long time ago, which by the way is the second memory that always sticks out in my mind. This one actually did happen. I was about ten, and Tifa and I were talking. That night I promised Tifa that I would some day be a big shot in the military, and when that happened, I would take her away from Nibelheim, and take her someplace where we could be happy.

I had made that promise again last night.

I took a bite out of my burger. Heh. I'm eating a burger for breakfast. Isn't that kind of bad? I wonder what Aerieth would say to me if she saw me right now. She would probably give me some weird look and then smile and tell me that she thought it was cool her body guard ate burgers for breakfast. I was her body guard. I had made Aerieth a promise too, but that promise I had utterly failed at.

I set my coffee down and stared at the ketchup that I was dipping my fries in. It reminded me of Aerieth's blood. When Sephiroth finally took his sword out of Aerieth's lifeless body I remember feeling her blood on my hand. It was cold…ice cold. And yet her body was still warm and lovely and deep.

"Damn it," I said, noticing that I had silently been crying. I had never really cried for Aerieth, and I'm not sure why I was right now either. This should be a happy occasion. Aerieth would be coming back to us—to me. And yet here I was, crying, yet not making a sound.

I finished my burger and fries. I downed the last of my coffee and then wiped away the salty tear that was running down my cheek. I nodded a thank you to the lady at the counter, who again gave me a strange look, and then I opened the door, still completely clueless on what the heck I was going to say to Tifa…and what I was going to do if I actually succeeded in resurrecting Aerieth.

If.


	12. Chapter 12: A Dream and a Memory

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I've never edited a chapter more then the one you're about to read. I also haven't ever written a chapter as long as this one. It's just shy of 2000 words, whereas most of the ones before this one are around 1200. Anyway, enjoy chapter 12!

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After brushing my teeth, I found myself in front of Aerieth's house again. Red XIII wasn't at the porch any more, so I figured he must have finally been invited inside to talk with Barrett. I walked onto the porch and put my hand up to knock on the door, but stopped my hand in mid-air. "I still don't know who I care for more…they both mean the world to me…" I muttered to myself. "Heh…I still don't even know what I'm going to say to Tifa…" My hand still lay suspended in mid-air as I tried to quickly contemplate what I would say to her. It was simply too early for me to know anything.

That's it! It's too early to tell! I've finally made up my mind. I've officially decided that it's too early to know who I care for more.

So…doesn't that basically mean that I've gotten nowhere?

Yet, apparently it was good enough for my hand to finally knock on the door.

I listened and heard nothing at first. Then I heard the heavy slow steps of Barrett walk towards the door. He swung it open. He was in a white t-shirt and he still hadn't shaven, but other then that he was the same old Barrett. "Cloud! Where you been man? You missed breakfast!" "Yah…I know."

He moved aside to let me in and I saw Ms. Gainsborough washing dishes. She was positively beaming. Even for an old lady such as herself, she looked like she was glowing. I guess that meant that she had heard the news. Red XIII was licking his paw in the corner, and Tifa was nowhere to be found. I also noticed that a stale odor was in the air. I knew this smell all too well. I had had to deal with it throughout the war. "Hey Barrett," I said, "Did you just get up or something? You stink. Take a shower already." Barrett leaned his head down and smelled his armpit. It was obvious by his face that he also knew he smelled horrible, but instead he said, "I don't know what the $#% you're talking about…" I laughed, and I saw Red XIII smile.

Ms. Gainsborough asked if I wanted an omelet to eat. I said thanks but that I had already eaten. She nodded, finished wiping down one of the pans, and then walked upstairs, humming to herself. "Ahhh…." I heard Red XIII say. "It's good to be able to talk without unwanted ears nearby." He must have been talking about Ms. Gainsborough. "Hey, she's not so bad," Barrett interrupted. "She's a good woman. She don't never complain…in fact…she doesn't ever really say hardly anything, come to think of it." Barrett laughed a little, but neither Red XIII nor I got the joke, so he stopped laughing quickly. He then turned toward me. "So Cloud…umm…what do you think of the good news?" I didn't really know what to say right then. I decided that the truth was probably the best answer, but I kept it as vague as possible. "I have mixed feelings," I said. "Yah, I figured you would, Cloud." Barrett said. "But don't think you're the only one who's in a strange spot right now. Tifa is too, and I think you know why." "Yah…yah I know," I said, lowering my head to look at my hands; anything to avoid Barrett's gaze.

"I don't know what to say, Cloud," Barrett continued. "I've always wanted the best for Tifa, so I think you know what I want you to do. I said it yesterday and I'm gonna say it again. She loves you Cloud. She loves you like all of Hell." I sighed, still avoiding his gaze. "Yah I know. I'm definitely in an interesting spot. They both mean the world to me…in all honesty I don't know who I care for more…"

None of us knew it but Tifa had started walking down the steps…

Red XIII chimed in next saying, "Well I know it's difficult for you Cloud, but you really just have to ask yourself, do you love her?"

Tifa suddenly became aware of our conversation and hid, but still listened…

"Do I love Tifa?" I paused, thinking of just how to say what my feelings were.

I wished I had never answered the way I did.

"Love is a strong word…" I said, trying to portray how confused my emotions were at the time.

Suddenly all three of us heard the hard, fast footsteps of someone going up the stairs. We all knew instantly who it must have been. "Ah %$#...Tifa was listening to us," I said. I stood up and went upstairs. Barrett didn't move from his spot, but Red XIII decided to follow me. We both moved silently up the steps to Tifa's room. I didn't bother knocking. I went right for the doorknob…only to find that this time it was locked. I put my ear to the door trying to hear what was going on inside. I was surprised to hear nothing, but I knew she was in there so I tried to do my best to reconcile to her. "Tifa…I…" I remember seeing the door suddenly swing open, seeing Tifa, then seeing a hard fist heading for my face, and then black. A whole lot of black.

According to Red XIII I didn't wake up for about five minutes. When I finally did I was sprawled on the floor in front of Tifa's door. I still heard nothing going on inside. It was then that I felt my face. I was bleeding from my nose but not too badly, and my eye hurt badly. It was already swelling. Red XIII was standing over me nudging me. "Are you awake Cloud?" "Ungh…" I said. I knew at the very least I would have one heck of a black eye by tomorrow. "Heh. You got your spiky ass handed to you on a silver platter that time didn't you Cloud?" I heard Barrett say. I looked around for him from my good eye and saw him standing behind me. He lifted me up onto my feat. "Heh, Sephiroth never hit me _that _hard," I said, but I wasn't thinking about Sephiroth right then.

At that moment, all I really wanted to do was talk to Tifa and explain myself to her. I didn't care anymore about hiding my feelings. I only cared that she knew the truth about my feelings, no matter how hard. "Let go of me," I said to Barrett and he released me. I stumbled forward, still woozy from Tifa's left hook, but I regained my balance and I moved to try and open Tifa's door. It was locked again. "Damn it," I said under my breath. Faced with no other choice, I spoke to Tifa's door, hoping that she was listening. "Tifa, I'm sorry about what I said down in the living room. It's just that, I don't know how I feel. You and Aerieth mean more to me then the world. You both do. So how can I decide who I care for more? Who I…_love_, more? You know, it's funny. I never really had parents. Technically my only parent was Sephiroth, and you know what a loving father he turned out to be…I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I really don't know what love is like. I had no experience with it growing up, so I really don't know when the people I care for suddenly become the people I love. It's such a strong word for someone like me…that's all."

I waited for a reply, but still heard nothing. I looked down to Red XIII and then Barrett. Neither made any movement at all. With that I turned back to the expressionless, faceless door in front of me. "Tifa…I'm sorry…again. I really am." With that I moved downstairs, Barrett and Red XIII following me.

I went to the front door and opened it, feeling more depressed and lonely then I think I had ever felt. "Where are you going, Cloud?" Barrett asked. "I'm going to my apartment," I replied. "I'm going to patch up this swollen eye and then hit the sack. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Red XIII walked in front of Barrett. He then said, "I'll see you here at ten o'clock tomorrow Cloud. Get some rest, because that's when we ship out to go stop Jenova. I'll call everyone on the PHS to make sure that they're all here on time." I nodded and then closed the door behind me.

Even though it was a bright spring morning, right then it felt like a dark rainy day in winter.

The next day I approached Aerieth's house with a feeling of trepidation. Would I see Tifa? Would she want to talk to me? I walked up to the porch and saw Red XIII sitting there waiting for me. I walked up to him and asked, "Hey Red XIII. Um…I thought you said everyone would be here. Are they inside?" "No," he replied. "Everyone is on Highwind." "Wow. You managed to get Cid to come after all. How'd you do it? Usually that guy doesn't give a flying flip about anything but himself." "True," he said. "But he also has friends in need right now." I didn't reply to that.

"Come on Cloud, Highwind is outside the city. I'll show you where it is," Red XIII said as he jumped from his sitting position and trotted off. I had to run just to keep up with him.

As promised, everyone was there. Cid was the first one to greet me with his usual array of curse words and expletives. Yuffie was there too. She ran up and hugged me. "Cloud! It's so good to see you again!" "It's good to see you too Yuffie. Now would you mind getting your hands off of the materia in my pocket?" Yuffie's face turned red and she dropped the three materia that she had managed to grab off me. Cait Sith was there too. "Where have you been, Cait Sith?" I asked him sarcastically. He laughed and said, "Where have I been? Where have _you_ been?" "Around," I said. "Same here," he said. I greeted Barrett, but then noticed that Tifa and Vincent were missing. I didn't ask about Tifa, but I did hear myself say, "Where's Vincent?" Cid spoke kind of suddenly. "Uh…we couldn't get a hold of that %$& vampire. He's probably still &$% asleep in that damn %#& hole of his."

At that point, everyone grew kind of quiet. I was familiar with this. It was time for the leader to give a good impassioned speech.

Damn it. Why is it always me that has to do this?

"Well guys, I'm glad to see you all here. What's more is that I'm glad you came because Tifa and I—err… (I paused as I thought of her)…had some crazy dreams. Thanks to Red XIII we believe these dreams to mean that Jenova is back and trying to resurrect Sephiroth. Well, we're gonna go down there and make sure that doesn't happen. This time, Jenova burns." I heard a 'Yee-haw!' from Cid. Everyone got real quiet and turned to give him funny looks. Yuffie said, "I can't believe you just did that…" Cid lowered his head and said, "You're all just a bunch of &$ ass-holes. Who cares if I sometimes talk like a damn cowboy?" We all laughed at this. Again it grew quiet, and I saw everyone's eyes on me. I didn't really know what to say. I figured they probably already knew about the Aerieth/Tifa situation I was in, so I didn't mention that. Instead, I finished my short speech by saying simply, "Let's go guys."


	13. Chapter 13: A Dream and a Memory

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Uh…yah. Again I'm sorry for being so late with this newest chapter. I've been busy with work, and when I haven't been working, I've been stuck in front of my Xbox playing Morrowind. (Great game!)

Anyway, here's chapter 13.

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Highwind, seriously scarred through its many battles and renovations didn't start right away. It took Cid a few minutes of curses, a pack of cigarettes, and a new sparkplug to get it going. When it finally started, Highwind roared into the air much faster then anyone expected, even Cid. After we had reached the height of the clouds, we all looked out into the distance expecting the glaciers of the north to start to appear.

Whenever I was in Highwind, for some odd reason, the emotions of fear and sadness didn't seem to exist. Inside this gray machine, even when the white materia originally summoned and it was tossed into the air like a rag doll, I had not felt either emotion. Only anticipation, exhilaration…impatience.

I'd like to say that this was the first time that that had changed, and that my mind was on Tifa, who I knew was on board but I had yet to find. But it wasn't. My mind was eagerly waiting to see Aerieth again and there was no room at the moment for any thought of Tifa's feelings.

I remember when we had gone out on our one official date back at Gold Saucer. She was so at ease—almost playful, which was odd for a girl her age. I knew that she was older then me by almost a year, but you wouldn't know it. Maybe that's why I was so attracted to her.

What had she ever seen in me? This thought had crossed my mind several times. It's difficult to know for sure. First of all, I'm not a girl, so I don't know what girls are attracted to exactly. I've always heard the "tall, dark, and handsome" was what they liked, and that being strong wasn't bad either. Looking at myself, I am not particularly tall, I don't have dark hair nor am really all too good looking, though I'm not ugly…I guess I am pretty strong. Was that it? No…Aerieth wasn't like that. She saw other things. Loyalty, friendship, caring, kindness…these were all words I associated with her, and during our brief time together I too tried to reflect these same characteristics when I was around her. I wonder if that is what did it? My effort to live up to her. No one else seemed to do that around here.

My thoughts were cut off at that point though. Do to Cid's many renovations and improvements to Highwind, we had already, in the space of only about twenty minutes, reached the large crater that opened into the Final Dungeon. Twenty minutes! Most airships wouldn't have made it in two hours! I turned to Cid to ask him what the heck he had done to the engines, but I stopped myself. Knowing Cid, he probably either would have laughed at me calling me an idiot, or he would have gone on to explain, in great detail, everything he had done to the engines. He took great pride in the machines he operated. That's why he was such an awesome pilot.

Without anyone saying anything, everyone except Cid moved to the lower deck to disembark. Cid stayed at the controls to ensure a safe landing. I saw Barrett cock his Pile Bunker gun-arm and give a small little smile. Barrett was as tough as nails, and he always relished in blowing away stuff. Deep down everyone knew he had a heart of gold, especially towards his long time friend Tifa, but at least on the outside, he was a crazed pyro.

We all crowded into the lower deck and watched as the ground came slowly towards us, until about twenty feet from the ground it suddenly stopped coming up at us, and we knew that Cid had secured the ship. We then threw out lines attached to small anchors to make sure that Highwind wouldn't drift anywhere while we descended. There were only three people absent at this time: Vincent, because he had never showed up, Yuffie, because she was inside holding her mouth to a barf bag, and Tifa, who still refused to have anything to do with me.

Was she waiting for me to do something? Was she waiting for me to say I'm sorry?

Maybe she is. But I already said I'm sorry. On top of that she had said 'Your Welcome' by giving me a black eye (which I still had). Given these two things I felt no obligation to go and see her.

Everyone worked to secure the ship. We all gave small talk to each other as we worked. Cait Sith explained that for the first couple of days he basically had used his robot to clear rubble and stuff. Then he had used it to help build houses for people who had lost them. But he soon realized that though these people needed houses over their heads, what they really needed was comfort. Many of these people had lost their whole livelihoods due to the Black materia's horrible power, and no house made of wood or metal or concrete could replace that. And so, the man who controlled Cait Sith, who to this day still insists on remaining anonymous put Cait Sith away deep in some corner of Midgar and went to work aiding and comforting the people of Midgar using his own hands. "In fact," he said, "if it wasn't for Red XIII's call the other day, I might have never even looked at Cait Sith again. I had packed him up really well, since I figured I would never need him again. Oh well…" he sighed, and we all smiled a little.

With Highwind secure, Cid joined us accompanied by Yuffie (who looked very pale), and an emotionless Tifa standing behind them. Nobody said a word to her, or to me about her. Everyone was just acting normal, as if it had never happened. Except of course they all knew the situation Tifa and I were in, and I was convinced they were just acting.

"So who's going down first?" Cait Sith said. "It can't be me," Barrett said. "I have to carry Red XIII down, and I want somebody at the bottom holding the ladder secure when I do it. Believe me, it isn't easy climbing down a ladder with one arm holding a dog and the other holding to a rope that looks like it's gonna break." I noticed that Red XIII had kind of glared when Barrett had called him a dog.

"I'll do it," I said. In all honesty I think they had kind of expected me to go down first. Maybe it was the whole leader thing…I don't know. I lifted one leg over the edge and then carefully let myself down one wobbly rung at a time.

I scaled the twenty feet with ease, and then upon reaching the bottom instinctively reached for my sword. The enemies in and around the Final Dungeon are all very strong and often strike out without notice. To my relief, none were around that I saw. I grabbed the rope and yelled for the others to follow. Yuffie came down next, eager to get to ground. Then Cid, followed by Cait Sith. Then came Barrett and Red XIII, and then Tifa. As she reached the final rung, I looked up, and her eyes met mine for an instant as she jumped from the last rung. They were still screaming. I knew I needed to talk to her and set things right, but I also knew that I had basically done that the night before, so I felt no obligation to start a conversation with her. It was her move next, not mine. Our eyes unlocked as she landed on the ground.

As before, the only entry into the Final Dungeon was by sliding down a treacherous slope. Except this time the rocks were smoother. My guess was that when the white materia left was summoned it blasted out most of the loose and jagged rocks, leaving only smooth rocks that were well seated into the ground. The downside to this was that there was little to hold onto. When I moved to slide down the edge I quickly found myself on my back and sliding faster and faster with nothing to slow me down…right up until I landed on the back of something hard and warm.

"Oh &$%#..." I said. I grabbed my sword and with the speed and control of a professional chef, drove my sword into the dragon that I had landed on. It keeled over with a cry of pain, twitched a few times, and then lay still. "Come on guys! I got a nice cushion for you guys to break your fall!" I pulled out my bloody sword and saw Red XIII sliding down very quickly. There was a mixed expression of glee and utter terror in his face. Then he landed on the dragon's back with a thud, breathed a sigh of relief, then he too called down for the others. One by one they all came down the deceptively slippery slope.

I looked at the path before us. This part of the path was strangely similar to what it had been before. The path was made of rocks jutting out of the side of the crater in a loose sort of helical path. It was not particularly difficult to traverse, but you always had to be careful not to put too many people on a single rock, or it might fall out underneath you. I went ahead of the others along with Yuffie. I chose her to come with me on this first part because not only were we both light in comparison to the others, we were also probably the quickest of our group, meaning if any rocks fell out underneath us, we would have the best chance of jumping to safety. As it turned out, this was an unnecessary precaution. All the rocks seemed much stronger and more well rooted into the cliff then before, which again seemed a little odd, but we didn't really care.

None of us said very much on our way down. We were all wary of our danger. The first group of enemies that we ran into were a pair of gray creatures which we had named "Scissors," because of their long cutting arms. We had learned through experience that they were very weak yet strangely deadly. If their cutting arms found your neck (and they often did because of their amazing skill and control), it was pretty much game over. Yuffie and I, since we were the ones that found them, quickly brought our weapons in preparation for a fight. The Scissors saw us and immediately attacked Yuffie. Both of them swung at her, trying to find her neck, but her skills as a martial artist made it extremely easy for her to dodge her attacks. In fact, she was the only one (along with Cait Sith, who had no jugular vein they could sever) who had not at least once fallen victim to that particular attack. Upon dodging both of their attacks, she let loose her Conformer and ripped off one of their heads in a single stroke. The other one hesitated for a moment, looking at his fallen comrade, and I seized the opportunity by running my Ultima Sword through his back. He writhed in pain but quickly lie still. I kicked him off of my sword and looked down at his dead body. I then looked at Yuffie who was smiling widely. I then noticed that her hand was stroking her Conformer. I smiled, but couldn't hide my expression of _'That is really freaking weird, Yuffie…'_

Despite the look I gave her, she kept right on stroking her Conformer.

With the first part of the dungeon cleared by Yuffie and myself, we waited for the rest to show up. Soon they all did, and we moved onto the next portion of the dungeon.


	14. Chapter 14: A Dream and a Memory

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Hmm…so what about Tifa? Good question! Maybe we'll find out in the next chapter…maybe we won't. Let's find out!

Chapter 14…

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We ran into several more enemies, but we easily deposed of them. We each took turns taking point. After about an hour of walking, it was both Barrett and Cid's turn. "Oh boy…this is gonna get ugly…" I thought. They smirked at each other and I knew that it was on. They were going to see who could kill more. I don't know the details of what exactly happened between those two while they were at point, but I do know that I saw Cid looking rather dejected when Tifa and I came to relieve them. I also noticed that Barrett was holding a large bundle of something green in his hand. He was smiling from ear to ear.

Tifa and I had been chosen by the group lagging behind to relieve Cid and Barrett and we did so gladly. We had not spoken to each other since the morning before, and though I still refused to start a conversation with her, I longed to hear her voice again. As soon as Cid and Barrett were out of ear-shot I looked at her. This time I was the one that was expecting _her_ to say something. She looked up at me, paused a moment, and then said, "Let's go Cloud."

She ran ahead and I was left standing there fuming. After being decked in the face, pouring out my soul to her, and then waiting for almost two days to hear from her, she still had not forgiven me. It's not my fault that I care for Aerieth! She's almost like a sister to me! She was the closest thing to family I ever had! "What the %$# is with her…" I said to myself, much too loudly.

Apparently she heard me. She turned, stared me in the eye, and said, "No Cloud, what the %$#% is with you?" Now I was really mad. "Excuse me?" I said. "Yah Cloud. You heard exactly what I said," she replied. I could tell she was ticked off, but unlike me she controlling her anger well. "Tifa," I said, "I don't understand you. I don't understand how I am not allowed to care for Aerieth and you at the same time. Is that a sin? Do I deserve to be ostracized by you for…" (I paused thinking a little) "…for not really knowing if I love you?"

She slapped me. "Do you think I was leaving you out Cloud? Funny, you sound like a little whiny kid, Cloud. I would never have expected that from you."

"That has NOTHING to do with what we're talking about!" I yelled. Now she was in my face. "It has EVERYTHING to do with it Cloud! I always admired you for how considerate you were to everyone. I always admired how you almost never thought of yourself. You were always thinking of the other person, especially their feelings. That's what originally attracted me to you, Cloud. But now I'm seeing somebody totally different. When you came and gave your little confession to me at my door…that was bittersweet. But then you didn't talk to me afterwards like I knew you would. I just _knew_ that you would, Cloud, because you were a considerate person, and you always thought of the other person's feelings. But no! Instead you did nothing because of your stupid pride!"

I tried to think of something really hurtful to say, but I couldn't think of anything in time. She continued. "But what really hurt Cloud, was thinking that you loved me and then finding out you didn't. Love is too strong a word for you, isn't it Cloud?"

I stared at her, hearing her quote my own words. "You know, it was bad when I found out Aerieth was coming back," she said. "Not because I don't like her, but because I thought she was going to steal you from me again. But I also knew that there was no way that was going to happen, not after what we had done that night…not after what we had talked about. Not about what we had risked. Especially not after what we had shared." My mind trailed back to when she had kissed me… "But then I find out that the entire time you were just playing me along like a puppet. For what Cloud? WHY!?" She was crying now.

"I was not playing you along, Tifa," I said as calmly as I could. "THEN WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU DOING!!!!" she screamed. Her voice echoed through the halls of the Final Dungeon. I tried to think of how to answer. "I…I…." I thought some more, straining. And then I knew. "I was trying to find myself, to discover if I was more then just another person, if I was more to someone then just a name. I was also trying to…well…find out if you loved me, and more importantly if I loved you. That's it Tifa. I was trying to find out about myself through you."

Suddenly her whole expression changed. She lowered her head, and then looking up she said, "And did you discover yourself?" "Yah I did, and it wasn't what I thought." "So, you're not the master of your fate?" "I don't know, you tell me," I said resentfully.

She didn't answer, and I walked away disappointed and resentful.

The good news was that we had finally talked.

The bad news was, I wasn't sure if we were ever going to talk again.


	15. Chapter 15: A Dream and a Memory

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I'm just as eager to find out what happens next as you all. No joke!

Chapter 15.

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Tifa left shortly after our conversation. We had made no progress at all through the dungeon during it, and now I felt like I was walking backwards. Cait Sith came up to join me after Tifa left. "Have any problems up here?" he said. "Duh," I said angrily. He turned and we walked forward.

We ran into a few magic pots. We had learned through experience, like the scissors, that these were interesting enemies. They were practically invulnerable behind their pots, but give them an elixir, and just for a moment their arms and heads would appear to try and drink the bottle. We had packed plenty of elixirs for this very purpose. Cait Sith and I each threw one and then we rushed forward sending the little thieves into the after life.

I was surprised how few enemies were here. It was very strange. Here I was supposed to be fighting for my life and we had barely even found anything good to fight. On top of that, last time we had found the bottom of the Final Dungeon with ease, now we were going in circles. The white materia, as expected, had altered the scenery greatly, and it was driving me nuts. It didn't matter if we went left or right. Somehow we were stuck in the exact same area.

Then I had an idea. If we back-tracked a ways, then maybe we could find a new path.

It ended up working pretty well. After taking out some Tomberri's, we found ourselves suddenly before a pool of life stream. Cait Sith and I waited for the others before entering. Once again they gathered around me expectantly. This time I was a little more ready. "Alright. We all know why we came here. We are here to take out Jenova, destroy her and Sephiroth once and for all, and then, if our efforts prove fruitful, maybe the planet will reward us all and bring back an old friend." I paused and waved for them to gather closer. I whispered, "For Aerieth guys, do this for her." I saw their eyes invigorated. I also saw Tifa wipe away a tear. Was it a tear of hope? Was it sadness? Was it disappointment?

It was all three probably.

"I suppose we should break off into groups again, and attack from more then one place. I'm guessing Jenova is much stronger then before." "I'm with Cloud," Tifa quickly said. I totally had not expected that. "Ok…uh….who else want to join our little posse?" "I will," said Red XIII. 'Well, isn't this a little ironic?' I thought. Before we were done, Barrett and Cait Sith had paired off, and Cid and Yuffie also decided to look after each other. Because I was in the group with the threesome, obviously it was our job to go ahead and take whatever hit us head on. I jumped into the life stream. It was a strange feeling. It was a liquid, which made you hold your breath, but then you realized that you didn't need to breathe anymore, because your body was somehow invigorated when you were in it. It was safe for me to stay in the life stream a long time, since I was a clone of Sephiroth, as well as the fact that I had already experienced Life Stream poisoning before, so it wasn't a big deal for me. However, the rest of the group did not have the luxury of being practically immune to it as I did. As a precaution, we had agreed that if we had not found Jenova after one hour, the others were to bail and I was to join them as soon as possible, assuming I had gotten lost or was busy fighting Jenova.

Tifa and Red XIII jumped in and they quickly shivered. Red XIII even twitched a few times. It was always a shock for them. We moved forward, town the ever winding path. Quickly we ran into a Dragon Zombie. Before I was able to avoid it, it had cast shadow flare on me. I felt scorching, unimaginable pain piece me from all directions, and I fell upon my knee, barely conscious. Tifa ran forward and beat at the monster, sending it into a painful daze. Then Red XIII called upon Alexander, and the Dragon Zombie disappeared. I healed myself using a Restore materia, and we moved on. We then ran into an Iron Giant. Tifa went forward and somehow managed to punch the creature, as well as cast fire at the exact same time. The creature fell over with a thud. Then shortly after that we ran across a Behemoth. This time it was me who took it on. I rushed forward and slashed repeatedly as I had always done, and the creature fell to pieces.

We continued on, until finally we saw a bright red light in the center of some life stream that was swirling about it. We rushed forward expecting anything.

There she was.

Beside the red glowing light was the figure that Tifa had described. It was tall, though short in comparison to the other Jenovas. It had a single large tentacle that jutted out of the back of its head. But by far the most striking new feature was that when you looked at her, somehow you swore that she was the colors black and blue at the exact same time. You couldn't say that she was dark blue. No, she was both colors quite distinctly, and yet, both at the same time.

We stopped and Tifa whispered to us that this was indeed the Jenova that she had seen in her dream. She looked frightened. I wished I could have comforted her, but that was no longer an option. Red XIII looked at us and motioned that we needed to attack her as soon as possible. We moved stealthily forward, using the various floating rocks about us as cover. As we got closer we heard a strange chanting sound. It was dark and methodical—deep and monotonous. Red XIII suddenly froze, "That is the same chanting I heard in my dream when I touched the pillar of light…" As we moved forward and we got closer, we were able to see her in more detail. Her body looked like that of a woman's wearing a robe of some sort. She had four arms. Two looked normal, by human standards. Long, skinny, and attached near the top where the shoulders should be. The other two were large, and looked web like. These two were attached to her back…if you could really call it her back, and they were swaying back and forth over the object that was glowing red. It was then that we saw what exactly the red light was. It wasn't a light at all, it was a giant glowing egg, and inside, to my horror, was the body of Sephiroth. His eyes were closed, and certain parts of his body didn't seem right, like they were still being molded, like his nose for example. His nose was crooked, and way too small. His left arm seemed un-proportional to the rest of his body: it was fatter and shorter then it should have been. Also their were spots on his chest. As I looked closer I noticed that these weren't actually spots, they were holes. They weren't bleeding, but I could see his innards through these golf ball sized holes. Apparently Jenova had not yet finished completing Sephiroth's new body, for which I was very glad.

Red XIII suddenly spoke. "It is as I thought. Look at the red light. That used to be the white materia. Jenova has indeed corrupted its purity in order to assemble Sephiroth's body…That is why in our dreams the white materia transformed into the red materia, because that's exactly what Jenova has been doing…"

I motioned to the other two. It was now or never.

We jumped out from our hiding place and drew our weapons. Jenova saw us from her small head and instantly became alarmed. Her giant web like arms stopped swaying over Sephiroth's egg and turned toward us. Red XIII moved first. Using the Big Guard skill, we all saw ourselves suddenly moving much faster then normal, and we felt the presence of a strong shield in front of us. Jenova attacked next. Using a fire spell none of us had ever seen before, she blasted us from all directions. Even with the Big Guard, the fire still seriously scorched our body. Tifa moved next. Casting Ultima, Jenova was knocked back, but was far from done. I then rushed forward and slashed at her several times. I cut a large section of her body away. She moaned, and then one of her huge web like arms swatted me away like a bug. I am totally not kidding when I say I must have flown at least a hundred feet until I hit a huge rock.

It hurt horribly, but I laughed a little. "Tifa's punch hurt more then that…"

Red XIII cast a mass heal spell, and feeling our bodies rejuvenated we continued our relentless assault. Jenova lashed out at Red XIII who jumped out of the way to avoid it. Tifa jumped forward and kicked hard into Jenovas head. A large crack was heard and again Jenova moaned loudly, but she stood back up. She then turned back toward us and cast Ultima upon us. We were all unable to avoid it and we felt our lives slipping away under the enormous power of the materia.

"Final Attack….Phoenix!" I cried. A huge red bird came down and brought the three of us back to consciousness. It then turned and dished out a powerful fire attack upon Jenova. Jenova reeled, but still didn't go down.

Tifa cast Lightning 3, and one of the Jenova's arms fell off. Red XIII used his ultimate attack, Cosmo Memory, and created a gigantic crater in the middle of her body. I then cast Quadra Magic Contain, and Jenova's body began to shrink and fall apart under the enormous power of that materia combo. Tifa beat at her furiously with her fists. Red XIII bit, chewed, scratched, and spun his hair clip shredding away at Jenova's dwindling life. I then moved forward and in one great slash, tore off Jenova's head. She then screamed loudly out of the huge hole I had just created. The life stream circled and spun around the dead body, and then in one climactic even, Jenova imploded into a tiny version of herself, about half the size of a human. Then this shrunken, shriveled version of her, slumped over dead.

It was over.

"Wait guys," I said. "Remember last time. Last time we defeated Jenova all that was left was a tentacle, and she still came back. We have to burn Jenova until she's ashes." They both nodded and we formed a small triangle around the tiny body of Jenova. Preparing our most powerful materia, we all prepared to cast them simultaneously. Red XIII using Alexander, Tifa using Bahumut Neo, and myself using Knights of the Round, we focused, and then all at once…

…we screamed.


	16. Chapter 16: A Dream and a Memory

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Well, the last three chapters weren't all that great, and on top of that they were a little confusing, so I'll make it up to you in the next chapter.

Chapter 16.

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Instead of a hailstorm of summon spells emanating from our three bodies, instead we all felt pain. Excruciating pain. Uncontrollable, heart wrenching pain. It felt like every muscle in my body had suddenly gone into the cramp of my life, but on top of that, burning…I could feel and smell my flesh burning.

I couldn't even scream very loud. My diaphragm had locked on itself, only compounding the pain I was experiencing. How is it possible for humans to feel this and not pass out?

I opened my eyes when the horror subsided a bit and saw a huge black void encompassing our bodies. Red XIII was bent over backwards. He was moaning in agony, as his head was nearly touching the base of his tail. I suddenly realized that his back might actually be broken in two pieces right now. I glanced at Tifa. She was curled into a ball, and her skin looked like it was melting. She was moaning and screaming through clenched teeth.

What was doing this to us? It looks like Shadow Flare, but Shadow Flare never felt like this!

I had been screaming this whole time, and when I stopped to breathe, the dark corrosive substance that had exploded around us penetrated deep into my lungs. I felt my lungs on fire.

I wish I could describe it to you. But then again, I'm glad I can't. I don't want you to know how I felt. I don't want anyone to really know how I felt right then. The only way I can safely describe it to you is that, under normal circumstances, humans would have passed out after a few seconds of this.

Here I was…at least a minute of this, and something wasn't allowing us to black out. We were all doubled over in pain, (or in Red XIII's case doubled _back_ in pain).

Then, the pain subsided. It didn't go away, not by a long shot, but suddenly digressed into something the three of us could tolerate. We stood up on our giant floating rock and squinted around to see the black around us, and in its center, a somehow resurrected Jenova.

So that's what had happened! Jenova had willingly made us think she had died so she could get us close to her "dead" body in order to unleash this new attack.

I reached for my sword through clenched teeth and felt that it was burning hot. The leather surrounding the hilt had actually melted off.

Speaking of skin…

I looked at my hands and saw charred flesh. I felt my face and felt ash…

Like I said, under normal circumstances, we should have passed out a long time ago. We probably should be dead.

But she was keeping us alive. Using power I had never seen nor fathomed possible, Jenova was tormenting us to death, yet keeping us alive.

Suddenly Jenova, renewed and reborn, stood up, spread all her arms out wide, and let loose a massive wave of blue and black.

It hit us sending us at awesome speeds against the walls of the dungeon. With a crack, our three bodies were thrown like rag dolls into a wall that felt like concrete. Red XIII finally passed out and his body lay limp, suspended against the wall by the painful blue/black waves emanating from Jenova. Tifa squirmed and looked up at me.

I take it back. If there is any one thing I am glad I can't describe to you right now, it is how she looked at me. A mixture of pain, guilt, remorse, horror, love, hopelessness, and sheer terror.

BAM!

With all the force of a truck, a giant purple blast hit Jenova from behind. Her giant body fell flat against the ground releasing a tremendous boom. Tifa, Red XIII and me, finally released from Jenova's magical grip, fell to the ground. Tifa lay in the fetal position. I was sprawled on my face twitching. Red XIII lay still…

I couldn't see what was going on. My eyes hurt too much. But from what I was hearing I could see the new battle that was happening around us.

The giant purple blast I saw was Yuffie unleashing her most powerful attack: All Creation. I had seen it only once before, ironically, right on this very spot when we had been fighting Sephiroth. That attack had not only broken Sephiroth's concentration, but also had sent him reeling.

The same thing had just happened to Jenova.

Unfortunately, Sephiroth had been hurt last time. Jenova, this time around, had not.

She stood up, completely unhurt, and then turned on Yuffie and the rest of the reinforcements. I'm not sure what happened next. All I know is Barrett screamed "NO!!! CAIT SITH!!" followed by the sound an engine makes when a piston blows: a large crack followed by a screech, and then silence.

I forced my tired, burnt, and battered body onto its knees. I cast a heal spell on myself and felt life back in my wobbly limbs. I then cast Big Guard on the three of us again to ensure our safety as I brought Tifa and Red XIII back to consciousness. I looked around and saw Barrett unleashing his Pile Bunker with unabated fury. Cid was too nervous to get close enough to use his powerful Venus Gospel, so he resorted to summon spell after summon spell after summon spell. Yuffie focused, and unleashed a second All Creation which again put Jenova flat on the ground. Cait Sith…

…lie on the ground in pieces. I saw the remains of his gears and his HP Shout, and only cringed at the thought of what possibly could have blown him to bits. Literally.

Red XIII, after I had healed him, stumbled to his feet. "We can't stay here," he cringed and his leg spasmed. "She's too strong. We must leave…" "We can't leave," Tifa said. "Jenova was always weaker then Sephiroth. Think how strong Sephiroth will be if Jenova is allowed to resurrect him!"

"Tifa's right. We can't give up!" I said. Just then Barrett, Cid, and Yuffie were hit by that same blue/black wave and they went flying into the wall with a crash. Their bodies left imprints into the rock, and Cid's leg was speared by a rock that had been jutting out of the wall. His blood ran down his clothes extremely fast. For once in his life he didn't cuss. In fact he didn't make a sound. He couldn't. His diaphragm, like mine, had locked under the pain. But we didn't need to hear a scream to know what pain he was in. His face was screwed up and the veins in his neck were bulging.

The other two, Barrett and Yuffie, had it easier. First off, they didn't have they leg skewered against a sharp rock. Secondly, they had blacked out. I guess Jenova is only able to force one person to stay conscious at a time when she uses her blue/black wave. The first time it had been me. The second time, it had been Cid.

But hadn't also Tifa stayed conscious during that attack? Right up until the end?

I shook the thought out of my head. It was irrelevant.

I had to stop Jenova. I couldn't let her do this to my friends. They meant too much to me. I couldn't let the planet down. I couldn't let Tifa down. I couldn't let Aerieth down.

"For Aerieth…" I whispered.

I ran forward, grabbing my sword, and ignoring the singeing sound my hands now made, I released, with all my fury, hatred, and vengeance, my most powerful attack. The attack that I had only once before been able to pull off.

"OMNISLASH!!!"

I felt my sword pierce her hard, fleshy skin, and let my body twist and twirl, stab and slash with glee. I cut her body to ribbons, it seemed. Again and again and again and again I unleashed the demons in my heart with absolute exhilaration.

Only to find out that my sword was not piercing her flesh at all.

She made a slow moaning sound that sounded eerily like a laugh, and then I saw her giant web like arms grab me and throw me like a base ball. I hit the wall so hard that the wall actually broke and folded around my body. I think I broke my neck by the whiplash, because I could no longer feel my legs. I fell flat on my face and struggled to breathe, but my arm could move fine so I pushed myself on my back in order to breathe better. Tifa crawled up next to me and held my head in her arms. She muttered something under her breath, which must have been another heal spell, because I felt my vertebrae in my next pop back into place and suddenly I could feel my legs again. I stood up, not exactly sure how my body was still in one piece. I looked at Tifa and thanked her. I then looked at Red XIII who looked confused and scared. Yuffie and Barrett lay against the floor, and Cid was now on the ground. His leg was still bleeding profusely even though he was no longer pinned against the rock, so I ran over to him and healed him as fast as I could. As soon as I saw that his leg was no longer bleeding, I risked a glance at Jenova, which I am later glad for, because it saved both our lives. I saw Jenova prepare a new attack. It was yellow colored, and judging by her movements I knew it was aimed for me and Cid, and also judging by how long it was taking her to power up it was extremely deadly. I grabbed Cid's limp body (he was now cursing again, which was a good sign) and ran as fast as I could behind a large rock. I then looked behind me and saw a huge yellow flame explode where Cid and I had just been. The rock that we had been standing on literally disappeared. "Holy $#%!" I said. If that had hit either of us, there wouldn't have been any bodies to bury.

'What are we going to do?' I thought. 'None of us can even pierce her skin now that she's mad. Not even my Omnislash could do it.' "We'll die together," I heard a voice say behind me. I felt Tifa's hand on my shoulder. "And we'll die defending the planet." I heard her say. I stood up. I looked at her. I was still angry with her. Despite all that was happening around us, I was still angry with her. To this day I can't believe that I was unable to say I was sorry right then. But I did agree with her. I nodded my head, roused the others, and then convinced them to give it one last chance. Yuffie and Barrett stood behind Cid, who stood behind Tifa and Red XIII and me. We moved out from behind our protective rock in a brave, triumphant last stand. Jenova looked amused. Again she did that strange little moan that sounded kind of like a laugh. Then she lifted her web-arms above her head and she started chanting again. The ground around us shook. The lifestream around us swirled in all directions, almost as if it was trying to run.

I readied my sword, and with tears in my eyes, muttered, "For Aerieth guys…for Aerieth…"


	17. Chapter 17: A Dream and a Memory

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I told you I'd make it up to you. But it gets better….

Chapter 17.

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The ground around us splintered and shook. We prepared ourselves for the end.

But the end did not come yet. Jenova apparently had not yet had enough fun with us.

Black spirits appear out of the ground. They were dark, translucent ghosts, almost like something out of the Ghost House in Gold Saucer. There were at least twenty of them, and they formed a crude line in-between Jenova and us. Barrett jumped up first. "I'm not gonna let some damn ghost scare me. DIE!" With that he fired his Pile Bunker. His shots went right through them. He then used his Earth Materia and cast Quake 3 Enemy All. The rock around the twenty ghosts broke apart and crashed around these ghostly apparitions, but to no avail. Cid then moved forward and cast Bio 3, followed by Hades…this time the ghosts squealed with glee. But a wave of Jenova's web arms signaled that the wait had ended. The twenty ghosts surged forward and unleashed a maelstrom of various spells. Lightning, Fire, Earth, Poison, Gravity, Ice, and Comet, just to name a few. Our bodies seemed to fall apart. I cast Full Cure on myself and then cast Ultima on all twenty of them, hoping maybe to get lucky with this powerful spell.

Again they laughed. One actually spoke to me. "That tickled!"

I couldn't believe it. Here we were, the six of us, completely helpless to Jenova and her twenty little ghostly goons. Cait Sith was no more, and it seemed to me that the only person that would survive this encounter would be Vincent, who had never showed up.

"I'm glad Vincent isn't here…at least maybe he will be left to maybe figure out some way to destroy Jenova and Sephiroth…" I said. Cid looked up and then chuckled. "Speak of the devil…" We all looked up, and were completely taken aback.

There was Vincent, suspended high in the air, his Death Penalty gun cocked. He looked down on us, spread out his arms, and then his whole body glowed green. In a triumphant blast, our bodies were hit by the mother of all heal spells. For probably the fifth time in this battle I felt my body completely renewed, but this time it wasn't just me who felt better, it was everyone.

We sprang to our feet ready for the next wave of attacks.

Vincent yelled at us from above. "You cannot harm these creatures. They are other-worldly. So I think it's time we fight fire with fire. Just stand back."

With a wave of his cape, Vincent completely disappeared. We smiled. We all knew what this meant.

But we were left speechless. We had expected Galian Beast, Death Gigas, or Hell Maker to appear. But instead we saw a dark purple demon with red eyes and red wings take shape right before our eyes.

Immediately this new form of Vincent's muttered, "Chaos Saber…" and twenty transparent scythes slashed the twenty ghosts flying about us. They all disintegrated before our eyes. Then Vincent's new form turned on Jenova. "Satan Impact…"

Where all our previous attacks had failed, this one seemed to do the trick.

A giant skull with red eyes appeared out of nowhere and smashed into Jenova. Jenova hit the ground so hard she actually fell through the rock that she had been standing on and then crashed through several more with tremendous force and speed.

We all closed our jaws and gapped up at this new Vincent in a mixture of amazement, gratitude, and terror.

He peered down at us. "This is my new ultimate form. I call it, Chaos."

"But how did you manage to hit her so hard when even my Omnislash didn't pierce her skin?" I said. He responded by saying, "Sometimes it takes a devil, to fight a devil."

With that he swooped down and pursued Jenova into the depths of the lifestream.

Several minutes later, the Vincent we all knew appeared before us. His cape was torn, and he was licking a few wounds, but he said calmly, "Jenova…is not a threat anymore."

We all screamed in jubilation and ran to hug him. Yes, even I hugged him, as weird as that sounds. I don't think he was used to this, because he had the weirdest look on his face as we thanked him for saving our lives.

Eventually it came time to finally find out why he had stayed behind. Tifa, Red XIII, Barrett, and I were all very interested in what he was going to say, but Cid and Yuffie interrupted him. Cid said, "We knew Jenova was going to be %$#& tough. She had always been a real %$&, so Yuffie and I called Vincent before Red XIII could get a hold of him, and told him to follow us, but at a distance." "It was the ace up our sleeve," Yuffie chimed in. "And it worked pretty well. If Vincent hadn't showed up when he did, we might all be dead." "And if I had been here when you all first attacked Jenova, my Chaos form would not have had the effect it did, because Jenova would have prepared for it," Vincent added.

I turned towards Cid. "You planned this?" "Damn right I did." He said arrogantly. Red XIII said, "Wow…I never realized just how intelligent you are, Cid." "That's because he isn't," Tifa said. We all laughed, except for Cid, who looked like he was going to skewer somebody with his spear.

But we did not rejoice long, there were other matters at hand.

"Sephiroth…" I said, cursing under my breath. I looked at the dark red light that had once been the white materia, and now encapsulated Sephiroth. I pulled out my sword and jumped down to ram it into Sephiroth. Red XIII stopped me though. "Cloud, no! Not yet! If you destroy the white materia now, the resulting explosion will kill us all!"

He was right. With every step I took towards the corrupted white materia I could feel its wild, uncontrollable power. It made my whole body vibrate with energy. If I were to puncture the white materia in the attempt to destroy Sephiroth's body, the energy released would blow the Final Dungeon sky high and us with it.

"Then how are we supposed to kill him?" I asked. Red XIII bounded down. He then, using his paws like hands, undid one of the red materia from his necklace. He then gave it to me. I immediately recognized it.

"This is the red materia you were telling me about. The one that appeared next to you after your dream and the one you have no idea what it does." "Yes it is," Red XIII said. "But I have since figured out what it does. This is the miniature white materia. Remember the materia that Aerieth had a long time ago? The one that she always had in her hair, and had no idea what it did? Well, that's the same one." "But this is red, not white," I said. "And it was lost in a lake after Aerieth was killed." Red XIII smiled. "Yes it was, but maybe Aerieth's spirit went and retrieved it…" I didn't respond. I only stared at this miniature version of the corrupted white materia.

Red XIII continued. "Everything that happens to the white materia happens to this miniature version of it, as well as visa-versa. If you can use your power to purify this miniature white materia, then the actual white materia you see before you will also be purified. They are linked. And when the big white materia is purified, Sephiroth, who is the embodiment of everything impure, will be destroyed, once and for all."

"But why me?" I asked him. "Two reasons," Red XIII said. "First off, you're the only one strong enough in spirit to pull this off. Secondly, the rest of us have been in the lifestream almost an hour now. If we don't leave now, we run the risk of getting lifestream poisoning." With that he bounded off. The others were quick to follow him out, and I soon found myself alone with the miniature white materia in my hand, the giant white materia in front of me, and Sephiroth's face, starring coldly back at my own…


	18. Chapter 18: A Dream and a Memory

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Dun-dun-dun…what will happen next? Cloud could just ram his sword into the white materia and blow the whole of the Final Dungeon sky high, or he could try (key word try) to use the mini-white materia that once belonged to Aerieth and try to purify the white materia. But will it work? Well, let's see what's behind door number 18!

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Sephiroth. I had once revered him as a powerful leader…and then I had despised him for what I found out he really was. Now his name brought feelings of contempt and awe. I hated him…and yet somehow I still revered him. Deep down, I still admired him.

But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't ram my sword into his gut. He's done too much evil. He's hurt too many people.

I stood there and felt the power of the corrupted white materia vibrate through my body. It suddenly felt like deja-vu…like I had experienced this before somewhere, but I know for a fact I haven't.

I looked at the white materia in my hands. This miniature white materia had once been the very white materia that Aerieth had once had in her hair, her beautiful flowing brown hair. And when she had finally found out what it did, she was rewarded with a sword in her back. I clenched my fist in anger at this thought.

I snapped myself back to reality and to the task at hand. I had to figure out a way to purify the white materia. My first thought was to maybe use one of my materia to try and drive out the corruption surrounding the white materia, but then I realized that materia don't work on other materia. They only work on living things. So I began to think.

Red XIII said that I had to use my spirit to drive it out. He had also said the other day, that in order to control the white materia you needed concentration, will, and above all, power. Real, sheer, power. That's what it must take to purify it.

But did I have the power?

I began to focus and to try and call on the materia in my hand, just as I had always done with any other materia. I noticed that the white materia began to glow…

…but that's all it did.

I tried it again. The white materia glowed again, but once again, it didn't do anything else, and eventually it faded back to the dark red color it had just been.

I tried to think a little more. Red XIII had said that in order to use the Knights of the Round, I had to focus all my strength and concentration on summoning it. He also said that the white materia was several times stronger then Knights of the Round, so I must therefore need every fiber of my being bent on purifying the white materia.

He also said that in order to use the white materia, you needed sheer power, and he had assumed that because I had beaten Jenova so many times before, that I would also be able to call upon it.

Unfortunately, it was not me who beat Jenova this time around…it was Vincent. So logically I turned around and started to head up the path to the surface to go get him. But I stopped myself after a few steps. Vincent had been in his new "Chaos" form when he had beaten Jenova. And it's likely that because he had just been in this Chaos form less then a half an hour ago, that he wouldn't have the energy required to re-transform. Red XIII had also said specifically, _"You are the only one strong in spirit enough to pull this off…"_

Maybe that was the clue. I had to use my spirit, not just my will.

I focused on my life. My past, my present, my future. I focused on my heart…felt its rhythm…I tried in every way I knew how, mind, body, and spirit, to find and focus on my very life-force. Suddenly I felt my life draining, seeping into something outside myself.

I fell to the floor. My heart beat slowed…my mind began to blank…and all the while I felt my essence declining.

I blacked out.

I woke up some time later. How long I don't know. I felt exhausted. Utterly exhausted. I didn't know what had happened. I sat up and felt dizzy. I waited a moment until blood was flowing back into my mind. I looked around me through hazy eyes.

I saw a white light, and green liquid dancing around me.

I think I knew what this meant. I looked at the miniature white materia in my hand. Sure enough, it was no longer the corrupted, dark red materia it had been earlier. It was now the pale white materia that I remembered.

So that was the trick. You had to use the very energy your body uses to live, in order to access the white materia. It makes sense now that I think about it. The white materia is the embodiment of life, and to access life, you need to be willing to give it.

My strength returning, I stood up slowly. I felt like some movie star, crawling out of the rubble of a giant building that had collapsed upon him and was supposed to have killed him. I felt strong, and unequaled in every way. My eyes clearing, I looked at the giant white materia before me, and saw that it too, was no longer red. But more importantly, Sephiroth's unfinished body that had once lain inside…was completely gone. It had vanished along with all the darkness that had consumed the white materia. I had purified the white materia. I felt superb. I felt triumphant.

I knew what I had to do next. I walked up to the giant white materia in front of me. It pulsed rhythmically. It sounded like heart beat. I put my hand on it and suddenly felt energized. My mind was clear, and ready.

"Aerieth….Aerieth….where are you?" I said to the white materia, half expecting an answer. "It's time to come back to us. It's time for Sephiroth's sin to be atoned…"

I imagined her body coming together piece by piece. Her hands, her body, her neck, her face…all were appearing in my mind in its perfect form. I tried to use my energy, my life force like I just had moments before, to bring Aerieth back to life.

I opened my eyes, trying to see if my efforts were amounting to anything.

I saw a face…a dull face…It had long hair. Long flowing hair. And bright eyes.

I drew away in terror.

The next thing I knew, I was on my knees. My mind suddenly exploded with a piercing, overwhelming sound. It was a sound I knew, and dreaded.

_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!_

"It's….not possible…."

_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!_

"I…killed you! How are…you back?"

_SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH!!!_

I was losing my mind. I felt my mind drift, and my feeble struggle to hold onto my physical body was in vain. My spirit separated, and I was launched into a long, spiraling tunnel. It was the same tunnel I had traveled once before. It was the same tunnel that I had traveled down just before I met…

"Sephiroth…"


	19. Chapter 19: A Dream and a Memory

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So…did Cloud succeed in purifying the white materia or not?

Good question. Chapter 19 should tell us…

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I flew though the dark tunnel, and suddenly it stopped. In the center of the darkness, illuminated by a single light from unknown origin, stood Sephiroth. With lightning speed I landed upon the dark marble flooring of the room. I recognized this room too. I had been here when Sephiroth and I had squared off for the last and final battle. And there he was again. He was exactly the way I remember him last: no shirt, black pants, and his mighty Masamune sword at the ready. With lightning speed I stood up and drew my Ultima sword.

We stared at each other with our glowing eyes, swords at the ready, but neither of us made any movement. It was like an old fashioned show down.

Seconds past by like hours, and it seemed an eternity before either of us spoke. It was Sephiroth who finally broke the silent stalemate. "Congratulations," he said slowly and precisely. He had always spoken that way. I blood boiled with each and every syllable that came from his mouth. "Your strength continues to grow. I seems that Hojo's clone is not such a failure after all."

"Why?" I yelled. "Because I managed to kill Jenova _again_ and ruin your plans _again?_" He laughed slowly…methodically. "No…you've only delayed my grand design. But it will not stop me. I have returned stronger then ever. You cannot even harm me any more."

I smirked. He was always arrogant. "Heh. That's funny, Sephiroth. Funny because if you remember correctly, I ripped you to shreds last time we met. There was nothing left of you. Speaking of which, how did you ever manage to pull yourself together?" He looked at me almost mockingly. "I have _you_ to thank for that Cloud." "WHAT?!" I screamed. My hands were gripping my sword so tight that they were actually turning white. He explained, "You may have killed me before, but you failed to completely kill Jenova last time. It didn't take her long to regenerate her body, and begin to corrupt the white materia in order to bring me back." I laughed. "I never realized you could be a comedian, Sephiroth. Jenova is dead, and I myself purified the white materia, destroying every last bit of your body with you." "This is not new news to me," he said, narrowing his eyes. "But although you destroyed my body, you did not destroy my spirit, which you see before you. And it will be through this body that after I kill you, I will re-corrupt the white materia with my own hand, and re-forge my body, stronger then Jenova ever could have made it. Congratulations on failing, Cloud."

My fingers twitched in fury. I had not suffered so much only to fail now. I had too many hopes for my life to let him kill me. I screamed at the top of my lungs, "I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN! I WILL NOT FAIL YOU, AERIETH!!" I closed my eyes and once again let my anger consume me. Red light danced around my body, and I knew that I had reached my limit once again. Without a word I lunged at Sephiroth and unleashed my Omnislash. I saw his face as I slashed and slashed. He was smiling. It was then that I noticed that instead of my sword sinking into flesh, I was hitting something hard. It sounded like I was hitting metal. I swung and slashed until my body stopped, completely exhausted.

There stood Sephiroth, his Masamune held high, completely unhurt. He had blocked every single one of my attacks.

My mouth gapped open. How is that possible? No one can just block my Omnislash. It's too fast!

He looked up and raised his arms and his sword to the heavens. "Now you know Cloud, that I am completely invincible now. Not even you're most powerful attack can even touch me."

Suddenly, with speed I had never known, he jumped towards me and slashed. I felt my chest split open. He slashed again. I felt my arm dangling…it was severed all but a few inches of flesh. My blood was spewing forth in all directions. This was my end. I knew it. He then moved forward, and kicked me in the head. I fell flat on my back. The pain from my multiple wounds was excruciating. But it got worse. "Now I think I will finish you like I did that one girl…" I then felt his sword piece my stomach. He forced it through my stomach, vertebrae, through my skin…pinning me to the floor.

I screamed.

And screamed.

I was dying, with no one to help me. Oh somebody…anybody…please help me. I don't want to die. I don't want to die!

I screamed and screamed until I couldn't breathe anymore. It was then that he finally removed his sword from my stomach, and placed it on my neck. "Know this Cloud: when my body if finally complete, I will enjoy doing to all of your friends exactly what I am doing to you. One by one, their bodies will fall to pieces before me, and their blood will spew into the earth, and their efforts will have been for nothing." He raised his sword high in the air, execution style.

"Now DIE!"

He let his sword swing down.

And then, his sword suddenly flew from his hands. He looked up surprised. Then a massive staff with a golden head hit him in the chest like a baseball bat. He flew across the room until I could no longer see him.

"Aerieth…" I mumbled. I winced in pain. My arm dangled loosely from the rest of my body, and my chest and stomach were bleeding profusely. I wanted to reach up and touch her face, but I knew that I couldn't. Even if I had tried with my good arm, I did not have the strength to even lift it an inch. I couldn't even see her face clearly. Everything was becoming hazy quickly. But saw her I did. There she was, leaning over, with her long golden brown hair, her beautiful jade eyes, and that same spotless pink dress.

"Cloud…" I heard her say. The sound of her voice stopped me from sinking into darkness. "Cloud, I've missed you…" I opened my mouth to speak, but no words came out. Not that it would have mattered anyway, because just at that moment, Sephiroth reappeared a few yards away. He was holding his sword with one arm, his chest with another. His chest had a massive bruise on it, and it was already turning black. Through clenched teeth he said, "You cannot stop me this time, little girl! It's too late to save him, and with him out of my way there is nothing on the entire planet that can stop me from re-claiming it as my own, and then purging every last being on it!" Aerieth looked at me in my pool of blood, and then at him. She stood up, her Princess Guard at the ready, and then said, "You're right on one thing, Sephiroth. Cloud is the only one who can stop you. But if you think that you've killed him, then you're wrong. We're not beaten yet." He laughed again. "And what makes you think you can save him? There are no materia in this realm. This dimension does not allow them. And without materia, he is doomed to die in his own blood." Aerieth smiled and said, "We'll see."

She leaned down by my cheek and kissed me gently. I felt a little better…a little stronger, but the pain was still unbearable. "Just hold on a little longer," she said.

And then the impossible happened.

She kneeled down on her knees next to my body. With her staff in her hands, she muttered something like "Great Gospel…"

I saw the world around me spin. A blue sky with beautiful white clouds appeared above me, and angels with halos were calling my name. The white light that shined from their angelic bodies pierced my body and soul, and I was filled with joy, love, and a sense of healing. The wounds in my body suddenly closed. My arm shifted back into position, and then reattached itself magically to the rest of my chest. I felt the blood that I had lost restored to my dying organs, and my mind felt reinvigorated and energized. But it was not over. Just before the angels left, and brilliant white and yellow beam struck Aerieth and I. With this beam of light came an indescribable sense of power. My muscles vibrated with energy. My heart pumped with ease, grace and power. I felt strong and invincible. I stood up from my marble death-bed and picked up my sword. Sephiroth was speechless. I looked at my hands and saw that they were giving off a golden hue. My body was filled with light. I was light.

"This…is impossible!" I heard Sephiroth mutter. I turned to Aerieth, who looked up to me from her kneeling position. She was smiling. I smiled back at her, and then turned to focus on Sephiroth.

"What have you done? You should be dead!" He screamed.

I prepared my sword.

Sephiroth took a step back.

"Running away, Sephiroth? I can't allow you to do that. I can't allow you to go on with your plans to destroy the planet. This ends now, Sephiroth."

He took another step back. His eyes told of his fear and confusion.

And then I attacked.

Summoning the new strength within me, I unleashed my Omnislash.

SLASH! Sephiroth blocked my first attack.

SLASH! His teeth were clenched and the veins in his neck began to bulge.

SLASH! My sword was drawing ever closer to his body.

SLASH! He was struggling to keep up with my movements.

SLASH! He barely blocked that one.

SLASH! His sword was vibrating.

SLASH! I could feel his arms weakening.

SLASH! I could feel that he couldn't keep this up.

SLASH! The tremendous force of my attacks was forcing him to his knees.

SLASH! I saw his mighty Masamune sword begin to crack

SLASH! The crack became larger and more outstanding.

SLASH! I saw his Masamune begin to chip.

SLASH! He blocked this attack within inches of his neck.

SLASH! His sword, unable to handle the mighty power of my Omnislash combined with the holy power that was now coursing through my veins, splintered into a thousand pieces.

I jumped up into the air, and sent all my energy, all my will, all my hatred, all my love, and all my vengeance into this last attack.

Sephiroth screamed.

In slow motion I released my fury, and cut down with all my strength. My sword exploded though Sephiroth's body, cutting him into two pieces, and then like a grenade, the ground exploded around Sephiroth's severed bodies, and completely annihilated his spirit.

All that was left was the handle of his once powerful blade, Masamune. There was nothing else left. Nothing.

My golden, heaven sent strength left my body, and I stared coldly at the devastation around me.

Sephiroth had ceased to exist. He was dead. He was finally dead. And with Jenova gone for good this time, there was no way he was coming back.

I turned to see Aerieth. She stood up. I threw down my sword. She threw down her staff. We ran towards each other and embraced.

"Aerieth…" "Cloud…" "I've missed you…" "I've missed you too…"

I looked at her face and her eyes. Her eyes met mine. She leaned forward. I leaned forward. We kissed.

And I felt nothing.

We unlocked and she looked up at me. But it was not the expression that I had expected. Instead of the look of love and amazement that Tifa had given me after our one kiss, Aerieth looked at me now with a look of sadness and understanding.

"What?" I asked her.

"I'm sorry Cloud, but I can't go back."

"What?!" I said. "What do you mean? We can use the white materia to…"

"No, Cloud." She interrupted. "As much as I would like to return, I can't. There was a reason why I died when I did." "But," I said, "What could possibly keep you from coming back with us? From coming back with…" "You?" she said. I nodded. She smiled. "Cloud, I wish I could explain it to you. But I have a purpose here. I know it's difficult for you to understand, but when you die and your soul returns to the planet you will understand better. I'm needed here, Cloud. And besides…you don't love me."

That last statement struck me hard. And yet, it was true. When I had kissed Tifa a few nights ago, I had felt nervous, excited, and warm. I had just kissed Aerieth, and I had felt absolutely nothing.

She smiled again. "I'm glad I got to see you one last time," she said. "But I must go back, and you must go back to. Tifa is waiting for you."

Suddenly Aerieth closed her eyes and put her hand to her forehead. "No…" she said. "What?" I asked. "No…Tifa…why did you...?" she said.

I grabbed her shoulders and with more concern in my voice then I had intended I asked, "What is happening to Tifa?" Aerieth looked up at me. "Hurry Cloud. She is dying. I will watch over you. Always. Good-bye."

"What? Don't go!" I screamed, but it was too late. Aerieth fell upon the ground and instantly the background around me changed. I was standing next to the white materia, right where I had been just a few minutes ago. And right where I had last seen Aerieth fall over…

…was Tifa, unconscious on the ground.

"TIFA!!!"


	20. Chapter 20: A Dream and a Memory

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Hey everyone, I have an important announcement/poll. One of my favorite anime's is a show called Zoids: Chaotic Century. Not to be confused with Zoids: Zero…which blows. I am thinking of doing a fic based off of the show, with a few twists to it. Namely: put all the characters in High School, and then throw in all the FF7 characters on top of that.

I'm still just thinking about it, but please let me know if you all would be interested in reading this type of fic. It will help me decide whether I'm willing to fork out the many hours of writing to do it.

Anyway, on to chap 20.

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There was Tifa, lying still on the ground, right where I had last seen Aerieth. Without any hesitation on my part, I ran to her. She was lying on her side. I turned her over to look at her face. "Tifa! Tifa, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

She opened her eyes.

It was then that I found out exactly what was wrong with her.

She looked at me, through glowing eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but only a strange raspy sound came out. She then started tossing her head side to side, like a lunatic.

She had life-stream poisoning.

I picked her up. I'm not sure if it was the adrenaline or what, but she was incredibly light. I held her close and whispered words of comfort as I bounded up the slope, jumping from rock to rock as fast as my feet could carry me.

I reached the top, and emerged into the dank air. The whole gang was there, and they all looked worried.

"CLOUD!" Barrett yelled. "What took you so lo—" he then saw Tifa lying limp in my arms, still throwing her head side to side. "Oh no…" he said.

"What happened to her?" Yuffie asked. "Life stream poisoning." I said. "We have to get her to Mideel as soon as possible." "Yah," Cid said. "That's where they have the hospital for Life stream victims." Cid turned and dashed up the slope. I sat amazed. That was probably the first time I had ever heard him say any sentence without cursing.

"Why was she down there?" I asked the others with a hint of anger in my voice. Red XIII responded first saying, "She went down to check on you. You were gone a long time. It's probably been at least an hour down there, so we got worried." Red XIII sat down and coughed. I noticed his voice was shaky and a little raspy. "I wanted to go down and check on you, but Tifa insisted." Barrett said. "We told her that she had already been in the life stream for an hour and to go back in would be real dangerous. But she insisted." I looked at her. For a moment her eyes caught mine, and for just a second, she stopped tossing her head back and forth, but she soon went right back into her insanity.

"We have not time to waste guys. To Highwind…let's go." "Wait, Cloud," said Vincent. "Where is your sword?" I then noticed that my sword was not sheathed on my back as it usually was. I must have forgotten it in the depths of the life stream when I had become distracted because of Tifa's unconscious body. I looked back, with Tifa still in my arms. I saw several hundred feet below, a faint white light. That was the white materia. I knew that my sword was down there…but I made a conscious decision. "We don't have time. Every second Tifa drifts deeper and deeper into her insanity. If we wait too long she may become a vegetable." "Are you just going to leave it there?" said Yuffie. "Yes," I said, as I began to sprint up the hill.

We ran and jumped up the long and sometimes narrow path in front of us. For a long while we met little resistance. Then, about half way out of the dungeon, we met our first enemy. It was a pair of Master Tomberris. Two of them! I have never seen them before in pairs. The two of them saw me and then started waddling towards me, their lanterns held high in the air. "I'll take care of these #&$," said Barrett. "Go on, Cloud. Time is not on our side." He cocked his Pile Bunker, and then unleashed it at the pair of Tomberris. He hit one strait in the head, blowing its head off. The other he hit in the chest. This knocked the Tomberri to the ground, drenched in his own blood. Seeing that the situation was under control I sped ahead. As I rounded a turn I head two more tremendous booms, which meant that Barrett had dealt final blows to both of the Tomberri's.

As the rest of us sped ahead of Barrett, Vincent and Yuffie decided to take point. This proved invaluable, because we ran into several more small groups of enemies, and their combined speed, power, and long range weapons were a great asset in keeping up a good pace. Every once in a while I glanced at Tifa. I knew talking to her was pointless because there was no way that she could hear me, but I talked to her anyway. "I can't wait till you get better Tifa," I would say. "I have so much to tell you. It seems strange, though. After our last conversation, I was sure we wouldn't talk for a long time, because I was really pissed at you. I think you felt the same way towards me. But now that I think about it, why was I mad? I don't know why I was. You said nothing that wasn't true. Maybe I was just in an argumentative mood at the time…"

An hour passed before we reached the top. With one arm around her waist, I lifted myself up the ladder onto Highwind, which, thanks to Cid, was already prepped to take off. Yuffie followed me, and then Barrett carrying Red XIII. Vincent just flew up. I'm not sure, but I think I heard Barrett say something like, "Damn vampires…" as Vincent flew past him.

There were no real beds on Highwind. There was the Chocobo stable if you could get past the smell and the moldy hay, but Highwind was never designed to be a luxury ship, and Cid with all his remodeling and renovation, must have forgotten about the idea of personal bedrooms. Therefore, we had no place to lay Tifa. Red XIII suggested we could lay her on a table somewhere, since maybe a table would be softer then the metal grate over all of the flooring in Highwind. I declined. I was going to carry her. "But Mideel is at least 4 hours away, even on Highwind!" Yuffie said. "Oh well…" is all I said.

When everyone was aboard, safe and sound (minus Cait Sith) Cid hit the engines into overdrive and we sped off. Finally safe from the Final Dungeon, and having destroyed Jenova and purifying the white materia, everyone took a sigh of relief.

"So Cloud…ummm….where's Aerieth?" asked Cid.

I had totally forgotten about telling them. In fact, Aerieth had all but slipped my mind. I then told them in detail, everything that had happened, from the moment they had left me, until I had emerged with Tifa in my arms out of the Life stream. They cheered when I told them how I had managed to purify the white materia. They dropped their jaws in horror when instead of seeing Aerieth's face in the white materia, I saw Sephiroth's. They gasped and Yuffie threw up when I told them about my arm being all but cut off, and my stomach being pierced by Sephiroth's Masamune sword. They were fascinated when I told them about Aerieth's final limit, as I had conjectured it to be, and how it had healed me and filled me with power unimaginable, without the aid of any materia, because as Sephiroth had said, materia cannot exist in the dimension between the living world and the dead. They were thrilled when I told them about how I had destroyed Sephiroth's sword, and then in one mighty cut, split Sephiroth into two pieces. They were saddened and satisfied when I told them how Aerieth refused to come back into the living world, despite her inner desire to do so. And then they were finally drawn back into concern when I finished my story with Tifa lying on the ground, her eyes glowing, and her head swaying side to side.

When I finally finished about a half hour later, I noticed my arms were getting stiff and tired. I had carried Tifa for at least an hour and a half now, but I didn't want anyone else to have to carry her. In a way, I viewed this as the beginning of my penance for all the mean and heartless things I had put her through for the past few days. More then once Barrett offered to hold her for a while. Vincent offered once even, but I lied each time, telling them I was fine.

After the second hour my biceps really began to hurt. After the third they felt like they were on fire, and I tried shifting my body weight so that way my arms wouldn't need to work so hard. By the fourth hour my legs and arms were shaking, but I walked around so no one would notice. Finally, after five hours, the tiny war torn town of Mideel lay in front of us, neatly nestled in a vast forest. Cid found a clearing and landed Highwind with amazing skill. I didn't wait for the others to secure the ship. I ran down to the lower deck, threw over the ladder, and climbed down. It was dangerous. First off my arms felt like jelly, so supporting both Tifa's weight and my own was insanely hard. Secondly, it was a rope ladder, which means that they're hard to climb as it is. Thirdly, Highwind was not secure and was therefore still subject to the wind. Several times during my descent Highwind was knocked hard by a gust of wind. I almost dropped Tifa at one point, but by sheer will my arm stayed around her waist.

I jumped off the ladder and sprinted into town. The people within the city had obviously tried to rebuild since the disaster of Ultimate Weapon, but they had surprisingly little to show for their efforts. Very few of the buildings were rebuilt, and the ones that had been were the ones farthest from the Life stream crater in the middle of the city. As I got closer towards the hospital (and the Life stream crater) it became more apparent that the people in town had all but abandoned this area, which had me extremely worried. Would the hospital still be there? Would the doctors still be there? Would they be able to help Tifa now that it's been at least six hours since she was poisoned?

To my great relief, there was one building nearest the crater that had been completely rebuilt. It was the hospital. I kicked the door open because I was unable to knock. I heard a woman scream in fright and then rush to the door. It was one of the nurses. "How DARE you open a door like that! This is a hospital! We have patients in here!" She screamed. Suddenly she looked down at Tifa in my arms, which were shaking. This only made Tifa's spasmodic movements appear even more prominent, which I later realized was probably a blessing. The nurse's face instantly changed. She ushered me in (although she yelled at me again for my "rudeness and inconsideration of the other patients"), and pointed me to chair. I sat down, grateful for the chance to relax my arms, but that was quickly forgotten. It seemed to me that Tifa was getting worse. She was thrashing her head about harder now. Her raspy sounds were a little more pronounced. And she no longer paused momentarily when ever her eyes met mine.

The doctor came in quickly. "Hello," he said. He then paused. "Uh…excuse me for asking, but have we met before?" I set Tifa down in one of the chairs and stood up to shake his hand. "My name is Cloud Strife," I said. "I was a patient here a few months ago." "Oh yes, I remember you. You were the guy who fell into the Life stream about half a year ago. It really was amazing how you managed to survive that. Most people…" "I'm sorry," I interrupted. "But my friend here, (I motioned towards Tifa), was in some Life stream…she has Life stream poisoning." The doctor put on his glasses and then checked his pocket for something. "Oh my….I think I may have left my stethoscope in the back room. People say I'm a little absent minded. I don't know why they think that. I'm very focused whenever I have a patient in front of me. Especially during surgery. In fact, just the other day one of the nurses was administering—" "DOC!" I interrupted. "Oh…right." He disappeared for a moment behind a curtain, and then came back with his stethoscope and a small box. Tifa lay twitching on the chair. The doctor sat down and felt her pulse, checked her eyes, her ears, and a number of other things. He was still going through this seemingly pointless routine when all the others arrived. "Oh, hello," the doctor said. "Are you all here for her?" "Damn right we are," said Cid. The nurse suddenly turned towards Cid and gave him a look. I didn't see it, and nor did anyone else, but Cid later recalled it by saying simply, "It was the most %$# frightening look I've ever seen." Cid didn't curse again for a while. In fact, I don't think he talked for the rest of the day.

After a few minutes, the doctor finally stood up. "Well, you were right. She has Life stream poisoning. But as near as I can tell, she has a very bad case of it. Worse then yours, I think," he said, looking at me. "How can that be?" I said. "She was in it for at the most…two hours. When I had the poisoning I had been under for…" "A hell of a lot longer then that," Barrett said. Again the nurse suddenly appeared in the background. This time she glared at Barrett, and he, like Cid, suddenly grew very quiet.

"Well, if I remember right, your blood sample said that you had had some previous form of Life stream poisoning. So you were somewhat immune to it when you were poisoned again. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if you're completely immune now. I mean, have you seen your eyes lately? They're—" "DOC!" I interrupted again. "Uh…sorry. Well, this girl…what's her name again?" "Tifa," I said. "Tifa? Tifa Lockheart?" "Yes. She was the girl that stayed with me during my recovery period." "Ah yes, wonderful girl, just a wonderful girl. It's a pity though…" We were all silent. None of us wanted to know what he had to say next, and yet, we all needed to know. We almost seemed to lean towards him as he said, "I'm very sorry to say this, and perhaps I shouldn't because I'll need to run some tests, but based on what I've seen…I mean, maybe if you had gotten here a little sooner I could have done something before the Life stream settled in her brain, but at this point…I don't think she'll recover from the poisoning…"


	21. Chapter 21: A Dream and a Memory

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It hurt me a little to have to write that last part. But the story is not over.

Chapter 21.

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I didn't bother to hear what else he had to say. I walked next to Tifa and placed my hand gently underneath her chin to bring her eyes up.

She didn't even know I was there.

I turned and left. As I opened the door to leave the nurse said, "Sir…I'm sorry about the girl, but this is the best Life stream recovery hospital in the world. You came to a good place. Perhaps with the medicines and therapy she'll recover a little. But if you want either of these things I'll need…" I turned around, reached in my pocket, and threw down all the money I had on me, which was at least a couple thousand Gil. The nurse's jaw dropped when she saw how much money was suddenly before her. She said thank you, and then said that they would do all they could for her. I turned to leave and suddenly saw Yuffie standing in front of me. Without saying anything, she hugged me. I was surprised by this, but I hugged her back. "Thank you," I said, my voice quivering. She then let go of me, wiped away a tear and went back to the others. I did not join them. I left.

I left the city in the direction of Highwind. Outwardly, my face was emotionless. Inwardly, I was in turmoil.

I reached Highwind and climbed up to the top. One of the crew members saluted me, but I ignored him and went straight for the bathroom.

I stepped in and locked the door. I then went to the sink and stared at the mirror. I sat there for a long time, staring at myself.

When does something that frightens you become something that terrifies you?

When does an event in life become a memory of life?

When does something you enjoy become a lifestyle, or a crutch?

When does a crutch become something worth shedding a tear over?

When do you stop shedding tears and start to cry?

When does crying suddenly become the wails of a bemoaned soul?

All I will say is this: I went into the bathroom with an understanding of where the boundaries between all of these were. I left, having crossed all of them.

Later that night I found myself back at the hospital. I walked in, and saw the rest of the gang in the waiting room. They all looked at me, but none of them said anything. I turned towards Cid. "Cid, I owe you a few bucks. I broke the mirror in Highwind's bathroom." (Just before I left the bathroom, I had broken the mirror into a thousand pieces so I could no longer see myself.) He actually grinned. They all did. It was a well needed distraction.

I sat down and waited. I learned from the gang that the doctor was performing his tests on Tifa to see just how severe her case was and thereby give the best known treatments. We waited for about an hour and then the doctor appeared. "Well," he started, "the good news is it's not as bad as I originally thought." "Really?!" We all said at once. "But the bad news is," he continued, "it's still too much of an advanced case to be able to administer any medication that would help. In fact, I would have declared her condition absolutely incurable, except that there is one person on this planet who had an identical case who somehow miraculously recovered fully." He then pointed to me. "You sir, are that only man. You are a living miracle. To this day I have no idea how you recovered, but because you did, perhaps there is hope for her. On the other hand, I have dealt with victims of Life stream poisoning half as dangerous as your case was and her case is who never even recovered their ability to blink on command.

"I will do what I can for her. We all will. We will all hope for another medical miracle. But I will be the first to say that her chances are next to nothing. I'm sorry." With that he left the room. Yuffie began to cry. Cid put his arm around her and tried his best to keep a straight face. Vincent looked expressionless as always, but behind his eyes you could see the remorse. Barrett lowered his head and said nothing. Red XIII did the same.

I was the only one who did absolutely nothing. I had already let loose the dams behind my eyes. I was all dried up.

I was the first to speak. "We're not going to give up on Tifa. No way. If I recovered, then she can." They all looked up at me. "I'm going to stay here with Tifa," I continued. "She did it for me when I had the poisoning, the least I can do is also stay." "I'll stay too," Barrett said. "Me too," chimed Yuffie. Vincent nodded. I then interrupted them, saying, "I know you guys also want to stay, and I'd appreciate it if you dropped by every once in a while, but I really want to be with her. I'll buy a house or something here and stay as long as it takes." Red XIII then asked, "You mean, forever?" "However long it takes for her to get better," is all I said.

They stayed for about three days. Barrett argued with me. He wanted to bring Meredith down to Mideel so that way he could be with Tifa _and_ Meredith. But I convinced him to just let her stay in Midgar. She had friends there, and Mideel is not a nice town. The town used to be a nice refuge for the traveler, or a good spot to set up a small shop, but ever since Ultima Weapon destroyed half the city, no one except the people who couldn't leave ever cared about it. I finally convinced him that given this, Mideel would not be suitable for a six year old girl.

The others all promised to visit occasionally, but they all had to go on with their lives. They packed up on Highwind, promised that they'd send me some money to support myself and Tifa, and then left.

After they left I went and saw Tifa again. She was sitting on a wheel-chair, continually making those raspy sounds. Her hair had lost its sheen, but I didn't care. Her hands had become rough and her knuckles red, but I didn't care. Her clothes were becoming dirty and stained from spilled food and drool, but I didn't care.

Instead I waited on her hand and foot and spoke to her like a normal human being.

I did this for a week and then Cid, Yuffie, and Barrett came to visit. They also brought with them everything that I had had in my apartment at Midgar, including all my money, plus some extra. "Just in case," Cid said.

I left the hospital for the first time in a week and went looking for a house. It wasn't difficult. There were several houses people were selling here. They were all extremely cheap. I ended up buying two small houses that were adjacent to the hospital. I then contracted a pair of construction workers from across town to tear down the old shacks and build a house. I wanted the house to be nice, but not because I was gaudy and arrogant. I secretly had convinced myself against hope that someday Tifa would get better. And then in that case, we would give the large house to the next-door hospital and let them do with it as they please.

The house took a few months to build, during which time I did two things: stay with Tifa, stroking her hand, talking with her, etc…and training myself to be a handyman. I learned the ins and outs of building a house from these two men I contracted. I learned how to be a plumber. I even taught myself how to fix and repair weapons, not just sharpen them as I had always done. I set off a special section of my new home for this purpose, and then went to work.

I'd like to say that Tifa had gotten better during this period.

She hadn't.

Four months passed by and my house was done. It was a single story, although it had a large attic, all the rooms were large and square shaped (again, so that way it would be easily converted into a wing of the hospital…hopefully), and there were absolutely no stairs anywhere in the house. With all the work that had been involved in building this house, I now knew enough to consider myself a master house builder, as well as an amateur plumber, electrician, and blacksmith. These new skills became invaluable, because for the first year, they were the only way I made any money at all. Now, I could have gone back and become a mercenary. There is good money in being a mercenary, and I knew the trade like the back of my hand.

But I absolutely refused to leave Tifa. She never left me. Why should I leave?

As time passed, the visits from the others became more and more infrequent. This did not surprise me but hurt all the same. I think Vincent's visit at the one year anniversary of Jenova's death was the only surprise. He had never returned to visit Tifa after they had left a year ago. And in fact, he was the only one within our gang who seemed to even remember that one year ago today, Tifa lost her mind.

I cannot say I wasn't tempted during the past year. First of all, I had my whole life ahead of me. Why shouldn't I go and live? The other temptation was women. There were several beautiful, young, energetic girls in Mideel. They all had tans to die for, as well as youthful jungle faces and hair that were thrilling.

On top of that, I had become a bit of a legend around town. My efforts for Tifa, my patron like charity in the hospital, as well as the news of my past adventures and exploits soon sent me into kind of the town saint and hero. I literally could have married any girl in town over the age of fifteen just by asking their dad. Heck, I wouldn't have needed to even marry her. I was famous here. And though it sounds arrogant, I was revered here.

But, one thing stopped me from letting my human desires run rampant.

I loved Tifa.

I loved her with all my heart. Ever since the moment I kissed Aerieth, I had finally realized what real love was, because it was then that I knew that there was no one else in the world I felt so strongly about, and nor would ever feel as strong about. My year as her caretaker only made this bond stronger.

I'd like to think that she knew what I was doing for her, but I doubt it. I never remembered anything during my recovery period, and sense her case was practically identical to my own, she was probably no different. But I learned to expect this, and to hold her hand and joke with her and wash her hair and work her atrophied muscles all the same.

Up until that point, it was the most rewarding as well as depressing time of my life.


	22. Chapter 22: A Dream and a Memory

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Chapter 22.

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Vincent's visit, like I said, was a surprise, mainly because I had expected never to see Vincent again. I had assumed that he would just go back to Nibelheim and sleep the rest of his days in his coffin, because he is a vampire…I think.

He knocked on the door. I opened it expecting one of the locals to be asking for a light fixture added to their house, or maybe one of the local girls looking to invite me to a party (it sounds strange, but Mideel seemed to be rising from the ashes a bit. The shops were becoming larger and selling more. Travelers were starting to return, and also people's spirits were starting to rise. Party's for no apparent reason somewhere in town was now somewhat common). I opened the door and saw him there. "Hello," he said. "I'm looking for an old friend of mine. He has blonde hair that somehow manages to always point straight into the air like he gelled it. He has blue clothes and loose pants that make him look like a thug, and he also has this creepy fascination with sharpening his swords. His name is Cloud Strife. You wouldn't by chance have seen him would you?" I laughed loudly. "Yah, I think I know the guy. I heard he's a bit of a loser, you know? I think he lives in a cardboard shack across town. You'll find him next to the dumpster." He laughed (yes, he actually laughed, believe it or not) and then I let him in.

This was a new side of Vincent I had never known. He had started the conversation with sarcasm and humor, and he kept it up for a while. What is more amazing is that he talked. A lot. "Jeez, Vincent," I said at one point. "You're different. What did you do? Drink some blood or something?" He turned towards me and for the first time during our entire conversation, he was serious. "You know Cloud," he said, "It's a little strange, but ever since Jenova died I've felt a little different. I think now that she's dead, something inside me was released or something. I feel whole again. I feel….alive." "And you weren't before?" I asked. "I don't know," he said. In all honesty, I don't know if I was or not…"

We talked a little longer and he told me the current events. Red XIII had finally taken full responsibility over Cosmo Canyon, and therefore had a very busy life, but he was enjoying it. Barrett had finally found a small home, and was making a living as the town mercenary. "Figures," I said. He then told me about Meredith and Mrs. Gainsborough. Meredith was growing fast and had started school. Mrs. Gainsborough had pretty much fallen apart when she had heard the news of her daughter's decision, but she kept herself going because of Meredith. Meredith didn't really have a mom, and Mrs. Gainsborough didn't have a daughter anymore, so they took to each other. They were both quite happy now.

"And what about Cait Sith? Has his owner finally revealed himself?" I asked. "No one knows," he said. "I guess that ever since Cait Sith was destroyed a year ago, his controller has just gone on with his life. He even said on Highwind, that had we not called him to this new mission, Cait Sith would have stayed in the closet forever anyways." I had forgotten about that.

He then told me something I thought was really creepy. "Did you know that Cid proposed to Yuffie?" "WHAT?!" I screamed. "Yah," he continued. "Cid proposed to her after he got her father's permission." "How'd he do that?" I asked. "I didn't think that let her father would let her marry anybody, let alone Cid." "Well," Vincent said. "That's because no one besides his own daughter has ever actually beaten him, until Cid came along." "So Cid challenged him? Is that it?" "No, Yuffie's dad challenged Cid, with the understanding that if Cid won, then he would give him his blessing." "And Cid won, I'm assuming." "Oh yah, he owned him. From what I hear, it wasn't even funny how badly Cid tore him apart. It was like how you or I squash a bug." "Did he kill him?" "No, Cid has too much control to let that happen unless he wants to." "So…when are they getting married?" "Married? I never said they were getting married." "But I thought you said that they were." "No, I only said that Cid proposed. Yuffie shot him down pretty hard. She said that she was too young and Cid was too old for them to get married. She also said that the day he beats her in a fight is the day she'll actually consider the idea of marrying him." "So did Cid challenge her?" "No. Cid doesn't hurt women. You know that. Even he has a bit of dignity." "Yah…I guess you're right."

"So how's Tifa?" Vincent asked. I then told him a few of the events that had happened with Tifa, but they were few and were probably just flukes. Like how one time I had walked into the hospital, and there was Tifa. When I opened the door, she looked right at me. And then she lifted one arm into the air in my direction, as if beckoning me. "That was a good day," I said. "Does she do that often?" he asked. "No…it's only happened once ever. It happened a few months ago, but its moments like those that keep me going, you know?"

"Cloud," he said. "How did you ever recover from the Life stream poisoning?" "Well," I said. "Tifa brought me back." I then recounted the story of how she had somehow entered my mind during our brief fall into some Life stream and how she had pieced back together my mind and my memories. "Why do you ask?" "Well, I was just thinking that maybe because you are immune, that perhaps there is some way for you to give her some of your immunities." "You mean like a blood transfusion?" I asked. "Yes. Have you tried that?" "Yah…it didn't work."

"Then why don't you repeat what she did for you?" he said. "How?" I asked. "I don't even know how she did it." "Well," he said. "Why don't you start by falling into some Life stream with her? You don't have to be under for very long. Maybe something will happen." "I've asked the doctor permission to do that," I told Vincent. "He refused. He said that any exposure to Life stream can be potentially dangerous, especially for people who already are poisoned. Putting Tifa in the Life stream now could be lethal." "Well…I know it sounds bad, Cloud," Vincent continued, "but you've tried everything else. You've even been here for a year serving her with all your heart and you've seen no progress at all. I'd risk it if I were you." "And risk killing her?" I said with a little anger in my voice. "Hopefully she won't die, Cloud. But even if she does, do you really think she would want to live like this if she had the choice? I think she would take the risk of dying for the chance to be normal again, especially because of you."

Vincent was right. There was no way she would have wanted to live life like this. She would have taken the risk in a heart beat if she had had the choice.

That night, with Vincent's help, we snuck into the hospital. It really wasn't all that difficult, I already had the key to the front door. The hard part was going to be getting past the night nurse. But we had it all worked out. I opened the door to the hospital with Vincent in my arms. I called for the night nurse with the best fake desperate voice I could muster. The night nurse appeared and saw Vincent apparently dead in my arms. She showed me to a bed and looked at him. She felt his pulse and stuff…and I slunk out of the room. I went to one of the back rooms and opened the door to find Tifa on her bed. She was asleep…kind of. Her eyes were closed but her arm was still twitching, and her head would sometimes move to one side suddenly. I picked her up as quietly as I could and snuck out of the hospital, all the while with Vincent inside playing the part of a deathly sick man. Then, having successfully gotten out of the hospital with Tifa, I went to one of the hospital windows and started meowing. That's right…I meowed like a cat. Suddenly I heard a scream and then a voice in the background. "Wha…where am I? Am I in a hospital?" "Yes, young man. You're in a hospital." "There's nothing wrong with me is there?" "That's what I'm trying to find out, now if you would just sit do—" "Oh I bet I know what happened," I now recognized the voice as Vincent's. "I think I may have fallen asleep in the street. I drank a lot last night…" Suddenly I heard some wobbly, uneven steps walk down the hall. "Are you sure you're okay sir? I can call a taxi or something…" "No…I'm okay. Really. Thank you for all you've done…" And then he opened the door and left.

"That was perfect, Vincent," I said. "Well your cat call couldn't have come any later," he replied. "She was about to start tearing off my clothes to see if I had any wounds…"

I carried Tifa down to the edge of the crater under the cover of the darkness. It was a clear night, which I was glad for because the light from the moon and stars was invaluable for dodging boulders and slippery slopes that could have awoken the neighbors.

We arrived at the edge of the pool, and suddenly Tifa began thrashing about harder then normal. "I don't think she wants to go in," I said. "We came this far," Vincent replied. "We shouldn't stop now." "You're right." I took Tifa in my arms and held on tight. I then nodded to Vincent. "You know what to do. No more then ten minutes tops." He nodded. He then grabbed me from behind and threw Tifa and me into the Life stream as hard as he could.


	23. Chapter 23: A Dream and a Memory

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This next chapter is really two chapters in length, but I couldn't find a good spot to split the two. So instead of cutting it randomly in the middle, I decided to keep it as one chapter.

Enter chapter 23, the longest single chapter I've written yet.

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We entered the pool with an oddly quiet splash. I again felt the green liquid envelop my body followed by the strange feeling that I no longer needed to breathe. I looked at Tifa who had suddenly stopped twitching and instead was staring straight at me.

Did this mean something? Was she staring at me…like she was waiting for me to do something?

I held her body close to me…

Nothing happened.

I held her hand…

Nothing happened.

Then the thought occurred to me that she might be dead. In a panic my hand grabbed her neck…trying to feel for a pulse.

I let out a sigh as I felt it was still there, although I knew that if we stayed a whole lot longer, her heart probably would stop beating. That's why I had told Vincent to yank us out of the pool after ten minutes…and here I was already coming on one minute in the Life stream, still clueless as to what to do.

"Tifa…you have to tell me what to do. What did you do to enter my mind last time?" For the first time since she had been originally poisoned a year ago, she looked at me as if she knew what I was saying. I looked at her mouth to see if by some miracle they would move and release an answer to my question. But her lips stayed half open as they always did, not uttering a sound. But still I waited and stared at them, hoping that maybe they would utter some clue.

That's it!

Though she had said nothing, I think I knew what to do.

For the first time in over a year, I kissed her. I let all my emotion into this kiss, trying to maybe awake her, like in the old fairy tales.

Suddenly my mind, or my heart, imagined that she was better, and that she had awakened from this spell that had overtaken her body, and that we were kissing on a beach with no one around but the shore and the waves. I imagined she was smiling and laughing and that she was herself again. I imagined that somehow I had managed to pull her mind back together while we were in the Life stream, and that we had enjoyed each others company to the end of our days.

Suddenly my thoughts melted away and I felt my mind drift down a long tunnel. It was full of memory—living images of the past. Some I recognized and some I didn't. There was Gold Saucer and the roller coaster…and there went Midgar and a picture of Rufus' dead corpse…there went Cosmo Canyon…there went…

…a picture of me. Suddenly the movement of the tunnel stopped and I stared at this living portrait of myself. It was exact in every detail…almost as if I was looking at myself through a mirror. One thing was different though, I was not in my usual battle garb of blue pants and shirt with a sheathed sword on my back. Instead I was wearing a tuxedo, with a dark blue cumber bun and bowtie. "How can this be?" I said to myself. "I've never worn a tux before. Ever. Unless…"

I put two and two together real fast.

Suddenly the life like image of me moved aside and I felt myself launch into a large room. I was dropped in the middle of an expansive white circular room surrounded by an old white picket fence, with three gates, aged from use, or lack thereof. The air was stale, and all about me everything had a greenish hue. Even the sky was pale green instead of the vivid blue that I was used to. Above each of the three gates in the fence were large transparent images of Tifa's head. Each one was twitching back and forth in the familiar motion I had seen her do for the past year.

"I've done it…somehow I got into Tifa's mind."

I didn't have time to exactly figure out how I had managed to enter her mind, because I knew that time was not on my side. I looked around for some tool, some clue, some guess as to where to go and what to do. Finding nothing, I decided to go through the first gate. I pushed it open and followed the narrow path. I heard two voices talking quietly to each other, and suddenly I saw the world around me turn dark. Star's appeared in the sky, and suddenly two small people appeared in front of me, sitting. They took no notice of my presence, though I was only feet away. I guess that they can't see me, so like an invisible eavesdropper, I listened to their conversation.

The two small people, a boy with short blond hair and a girl with long brown hair and a turquoise dress, were starring at the stars when suddenly the girl spoke saying, "Cloud, why are you going to leave?" I then realized who the two people were. The small girl was Tifa as I remembered her when she was probably six or seven years old, and the blonde kid was myself at roughly the same age. I heard my young self answer, "I'm going because I want to be big and strong. I'm going to join SOLDIER and make a name for myself—to become rich and famous." There was a pause as Tifa lowered her head in dismay. "Then promise me something Cloud," she said. "Huh? What?" I answered. "Promise me that after you've gone and become strong and famous and respected, that you'll come back for me and take me away somewhere…away from this town." "Why?" I heard myself ask. "Because," she answered, "I'm not happy here. I want to go away from this town. I want to live life and see the world! Promise me!" I was quiet for a moment. "Promise me that you will, Cloud! I won't let you go until you do!" I remembered that part pretty good. Tifa was a lot bigger and stronger then me at the time, and I knew that she meant what she said by 'I won't let you go until you do, Cloud.' That was the reason I had made the promise originally—because I was intimidated by her. I saw myself nod and Tifa turn away and smile, though I noticed a single tear run down her cheek.

Suddenly, as if the lights have come on in a dark room, the memory disappeared and I found myself standing at the end of the path. Out of seemingly no where a voice said, "Do you remember your promise Cloud? Do you remember?" "Yes, I do. Now more then ever," I responded without thinking. "Then why don't you keep your promises?" "I do," I said. "And I plan to keep that promise to you, Tifa." By now I had recognized the voice as Tifa's. I waited and didn't hear any reply from her, so I turned and walked down the long, narrow, brick path. As I passed through the gate I noticed that the transparent head over the gate was no longer tossing side to side.

I walked to the second gate. As I passed through I noticed that the path was much shorter, and that the brick that had been lining the path seemed corroded and weakly structured. I walked along the path and once again found myself in the middle of a changing landscape. I reached the end of the short path and found myself looking at a scene from downtown Midgar. There was Tifa, carrying some groceries down by sector six, and suddenly I appeared. I was far ahead and walking fast with my head bowed low. Tifa suddenly called for me and sped ahead to try and catch me, but I apparently took no notice. I walked on down the street while Tifa suddenly got caught by a large crowd of people. She pushed her way through only to find me gone. Her face in panic, she went searching for me. Eventually after a few moments she found me walking past sector seven, seemingly without any direction. Again she called for me and sped after me, but suddenly she stopped, because I had entered the old church. Aerieth's church.

Tifa paused for a moment, unsure of what to do, but she decided to walk forward slowly. She reached the door of the church and put her ear to it. Suddenly my voice became loud and distinct. "Why Aerieth?…Why did you have to die?…I wasn't good enough…If only you were here, I would tell you how much I miss you…" Tifa took her head away from the door suddenly, and then sped off down the street with tears in her eyes.

I then remembered this scene. It had taken place about a week after the end of the war. It, if I remember right, was the first time I had entered Aerieth's old church since I had first met her, and it would soon become a habit. Tifa must have seen me and followed me, though I never knew it.

Once again the scenery changed back to the worn path, followed by Tifa's clear voice. "I saw you enter the church and I instantly knew that you were still stuck on her, but I had to be sure. When I heard what you were saying in there, I knew you loved her, and I fell into despair, because I knew that you didn't love me, and that you loved her instead. Do you love her, Cloud?" "I thought I did," I responded. "But many things have happened that you don't know about. When you've gotten better I'll tell you about them in detail. But for now, just know that I have finally come to terms with her death. And, though I care for her deeply and still do, I don't love her." "Then who do you love?" Tifa's voice answered. "You," I responded.

The voice again did not reply, so I turned around and walked back up the short path. It seemed to me that the ground was not as rough as when I first came down it.

Passing through the gate I glanced above me at the transparent head of Tifa. It, like the other had stopped tossing its head back and forth. Walking towards the final gate I wondered if what I was doing was having any effect on Tifa. I seemed to be solving something, but going through memories of Tifa's past was not what I expected to do when piecing together Tifa's mind. On the other hand, I hadn't really known what exactly to expect. It's not like I've probed somebody's mind before.

I walked back into the circular room, and pushed open the final gate, not knowing what to expect.

The path was lined with pink wood and yellow flowers that seemed to be withering away. I walked on and slowly the scenery changed before me.

I was in Aerieth's room. I was sitting on a bed, with Tifa lying next to me.

I recognized this memory right away, and I remember it clearly too. This was the night that we had discovered our mutually similar dreams, and also when we had kissed for the first time.

I saw the whole conversation unfold, this time through Tifa's eyes. I heard myself renew the promise that I had given to her years before. Suddenly the memory paused. It did not end, but like in a movie, it paused and remained in place. "What happened next Cloud?" I heard Tifa's voice say. "Uh…I led you down the steps?" I then saw that brief memory. Then once again, the memory paused just as we passed through the door. "And what happened next, Cloud?" "I…uh…I held your hand." And just like that, I saw my hand reach for hers and be received. "Why did you do that, Cloud?" I heard Tifa's voice say after the memory paused again. "Why did I do what?" I asked. "Hold my hand…" she responded. "Ummm…" I thought hard.

Why had I reached for her hand? It seemed natural at the time. Tifa had always been an attractive girl, and now that I knew for sure that she loved me, it seemed like a proper step in furthering our relationship. Without me saying anything, suddenly the memory flew forward into the next day. I saw myself through a window, which I quickly recognized as Aerieth's upstairs balcony window. I was talking to Red XIII. I remembered this fairly clear too. This was when I had discovered the possibility of bringing Aerieth back to life. I listened to the conversation, all the way until I smiled at the thought of Aerieth's return. And then abruptly, the point of view changed so that I saw Tifa, on her knees next to the window. I heard he say through sobs, "No….no….I've lost him…again…to her…but this time…for the last time…"

The scene paused. "Why did you lead me on, Cloud? Why did you lead me to believe that you loved me when you in truth love her?" I heard Tifa's voice ask. "I don't love Aerieth," I said again. "I've already told you that. There are many things I need to tell you about and I don't think now is the time to say them. But if you want the truth, then here's why I held your hand and led you on, as you say. I've always liked you, Tifa. Ever since I was a kid, you've always treated me different, like I was a real person. That night, when I found out just how much you cared for me, I decided to take a chance and hold your hand. And you received it. I was falling in love with you, Tifa. That's why." "Then why did you smile and forget about me when you believed Aerieth was coming back?" she responded.

Again I paused in thought at this. And once again, as I debated how to answer this question, the memory moved forward. I was sitting at the table talking to Barrett and Red XIII. Tifa was no where to be seen at first, but then I saw her hiding against the banister on the stairs. I heard Red XIII say, "Well I know it's difficult for you Cloud, but you really just have to ask yourself, do you love her?" And then I heard myself say, "Do I love Tifa?" There was a short pause, followed by words I will always regret, "Love is a strong word…"

"Why did you lead me on when you didn't love me? Why is love so beyond you?" she asked. "At the time Tifa," I responded quickly, "I was confused. You and Aerieth meant the world to me. When I learned of the possibility of her return, my feelings became confused and muddled. I thought that I had been falling for you that night, and yet, I believed at the time that before Aerieth died, that I was falling in love with her also. That made me wonder if I really was in love with either of you…it made me wonder what love was. That's why I said that 'Love is a strong word,' because my emotions were confused, and I didn't know who I cared for more, or even if I really loved either of you."

The memory faded away and I saw myself back on the wooden path. "Do you know what it is to love, Cloud? Do you really?" This time, I knew the question outright. "I may not have then, but I have since learned the answer to that question. I love you, Tifa. I love you with all my heart. And the past year with you has only confirmed what I now know." There was a brief silence. "What has happened over the past year?" Tifa's voice seemed more interested and less monotone than it had been. "Well…you've had a bad case of Life stream poisoning. I've taken care of you for the past year." Suddenly all around me fragmented memories appeared. They were sketchy, mixed, confused, and changed back and forth extremely rapidly, but I knew what they were. They were the fragmented recollections of the past year. "These memories are all the memories that you have gained over the past year," I explained. "The reason why they are so confused and disjointed is because of the Life stream poisoning. You have to learn to defeat it Tifa. You have to take control of your mind!"

I heard Tifa's voice start muttering to herself. "A year? Life stream poisoning?" This time the voice seemed to be coming from behind me, instead of coming from an unknown source. "Why did I…? Was it because of…?" The voice began to fade away. I sprinted after its unseen source back up the path. "Why can't I remember?" she said. "YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER!" I screamed, still sprinting after the voice. "Where have I been? Why can't I think straight? Why are my thoughts so jumbled?" "YOU HAVE TO PULL THEM BACK TOGETHER!!!" I screamed.

I reached the gate and flung it open.

The room had changed. It was still large, circular, and the white fence and gates were still there, but the center of the room was different. It now had a small earthen hill in the middle of it. It was covered in yellow daffodils, which were pointing away from its top. And on its top, was Tifa, kneeling, her head in her hands.

I walked slowly forward. I walked up the small hill, through the flowers, creating a small path. Tifa was muttering to herself. "Tifa…" I said. She stopped muttering but didn't move. "Tifa, I'm here." "Cloud?" She looked up.

There were those eyes that I have longed to see stare back at me for over a year.

"Wh-where am I?" she asked. "Don't you know? Can't you remember?" I said. "Remember?" she asked confused. Suddenly all around her a green storm began to appear and envelop her body. It seemed to be gathering from the green sky about us, and it looked like it was trying to envelop her, or swallow her or something, almost as if it was trying to prevent me from talking with her. "Re…member?" she said it a faint voice. "I can't….what am I supposed…to…forget?" Realizing that this magical storm was having some kind of effect on mind, I screamed, "No, Tifa! You can't forget! You must remember who you are!" "Remem—I am Tifa…Tifa?…where am…?" "Fight it Tifa! Get past the Life stream poisoning!" "…why can't I…I can't move…" "Because the Life stream is affecting your mind. Get past it! You can beat it! Break it down! REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE! REMEMBER WHAT WE HAVE!!" "…we…Cloud?"

With that the mysterious green storm that was enveloping Tifa began to shoot rapid lightning bolts at her body. I heard her yelp with each strike, and the world around me began to fall apart, to give in. "Don't give in, Tifa! You can beat it!" I yelled. "I…don't know…I can't…" she said, even more faintly.

"I LOVE YOU TIFA!!!!!!!!!!"

In an instant the world of Tifa's mind froze in its tracks. The green storm that enveloped her, though it still released its rapid lightning bolts, seemed to have no effect on her at all. The three large transparent heads over each gate suddenly turned and stared at me.

"You can beat it, Tifa. I did once. You showed me how. I know you can do it. Do it for me. I don't want to live without you anymore…"

I heard her scream. It was not a scream of pain, but rather the way somebody screams when they have reached the end of their rope and are trying to summon within themselves the last bit of strength their body can give—to hold on a little longer. The green storm suddenly began to fade and dissipate before my eyes, and the screaming became louder and more desperate.

After what seemed like hours of this ear-piercing scream, suddenly it stopped, and the green storm finally disappeared before my eyes. Tifa lay lying on the ground apparently dead. Before I could reach out to her, the three floating heads all started moving towards her unconscious body. They shrunk and entered Tifa's head, one by one. When the final transparent head sunk into Tifa's mind, she groaned. "Tifa! It's me, Cloud. Are you alright?" She started to get up, and I lifted her to her feet. "Cloud?" "Yah, it's me." I responded. She paused to look at her hands. She moved each finger individually, and then, she gazed up at me.

She smiled. "I'm back."

Overjoyed, we embraced. We jumped and laughed and hugged and screamed in excitement. "Are you truly back?" I asked. "Because of you, Cloud." She responded. I let go of her. I looked at her perfect face. "I have so much to tell you, Tifa…" "I know," she said. I smiled and felt her presence and her love for me as we looked at each other while in each others arms. I leaned down…she leaned up towards me…

SMACK!

"CLOUD!!! ARE YOU OKAY?! WAKE UP, MAN!!"

"Oww…what the heck just hit me?" I said. I opened my eyes and saw a familiar face in a dark red and black outfit standing over me. "Vincent?" I said, as his face became more and more clear and less hazy. He sighed. "Good…you're okay." "Of course I'm okay," I said, leaning up and getting up to my feet. "Where is Tifa?" I asked. Behind his mask I could see him smile. He moved aside.

And there was Tifa, standing and smiling back at me.

I looked at her, but couldn't find the strength to move. I opened my mouth, but couldn't find the words to speak. Tifa walked forward, and placed her finger on my lips to silence my attempt. "Later," she said. She then put her arms around my neck, pressed her body against mine, and kissed me.

It's difficult to describe in words how happy I felt right then. Tifa was back. She was back! The miracle I had dreamed about for a year had finally happened! Here she was her mind in order, and her love, all in the proper place.

> We unlocked and I stared into her eyes. Her glowing eyes…

Glowing eyes?

I laughed. "What?" she asked, smiling. "Tifa, I think you need to have a look at the mirror…"


	24. Chapter 24: A Dream and a Memory

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Well, the story is still not over. I don't know how many chapters are left for me to write, but I would say probably 3 or 4 are still to come. From here on out it's just basically the wind down. The "prologue." Err…is it "epilogue?"

Chapter 24.

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The walk back seemed like utter bliss. We walked hand in hand back towards the slope. Tifa had difficulty climbing the steep slope however. She said she felt strangely weak. I explained to her that it had been a whole year since she had done any major movements (like standing) and that her muscles had atrophied. In fact, it was probably a minor miracle that she still had enough strength in her legs just to walk.

I swept her off of her feet (which I found I would be doing a lot over the next couple days), one arm under her knees and the other behind her back, and carried her up the slope. "Would it be easier if I just flew you two to the top?" I heard a voice say behind me. I had totally forgotten that Vincent had been behind us. "Uh…that's okay. Thanks though," I said. "Suits yourself…" he responded.

I reached the top and put her down on her feet again. Tifa turned and saw the hospital. She froze and put her hand to her forehead. "What's wrong?" I said. "This place…I know this place…memories flooding back…" she muttered. "This is where you've stayed for the past year, Tifa. At the hospital in Mideel." "Oh…hey wait. I thought you said that _you_ took care of me for the past year." She said looking at me sternly. "I did. I've lived her ever since we brought you here. I've taken care of you the entire time. Basically the only time I wasn't around was at night or when I was called somewhere." She looked at me confused. Vincent answered before I could, saying, "Cloud's a handyman now. He's the town plumber, electrician, blacksmith, and he also knows a bit of construction work. He practically built that house over there," he said, pointing to my house. "Really, Cloud?" Tifa said. "Yah…I've had to support myself somehow. I mean, I didn't know how long you were gonna be comatose. It could have been years. Many years. I knew that eventually the money I gained through the war would run out, so I prepared myself in advance." Tifa looked up at me. "I never thought that you were willing to give up your life as a mercenary for me…" "Things change, Tifa," I said. "You are all that matters to me now." Tifa looked back at me longingly.

"Ahem," Vincent said. Tifa blushed in embarrassment. "We should probably be getting Tifa to bed. As near as I can guess it's probably around two o'clock and she'll want all of her strength for tomorrow. She, err, we, will have a lot of explaining to do."

"You know, Vincent," I said. "You could just say that you were tired. We'd understand." Vincent didn't say anything at first. Then he bowed his head and I heard him mutter under his breath, "It's hard not sleeping in a coffin…"

We passed the hospital and walked across the street to my house. Tifa was amazed at how big it was, but she also said she didn't like how boxy it looked. "Well, that was a precaution," I said. "I hoped that one day you would wake up, and I figured if you did, that you wouldn't want to live here in Mideel. So I designed it so that should that day come, it would be easily converted into another wing to the hospital." "Huh…" is all she said.

We climbed up to the door step and I could see that Tifa was getting winded. "Here," I said, sweeping her off her feet again. "Let's make this formal…" I kicked open the door and using my foot, hit the light switch. The house lit up. It was modestly decorated. A couch, TV, a picture on the wall of the entire gang, a closet where I stored my swords, and a weight bench in the corner. The kitchen was a disaster area…I really should have cleaned that up, but the rest of the house was pretty clean. "This is my home away from home. It's not much, but I haven't actually been in this house much except to sleep at night and to cook some food." "You cook too?" Tifa said looking amazed. "Uh…maybe I should have said that I _try_ to cook. Like last night I tried to cook myself some soup. It ended up bubbling over the pan and all over the floor." "Skilz…" Vincent said. "Shut up…" I responded. Tifa laughed.

After the short tour, I took her to one of the guest rooms. Again, I had designed this house to be easily added to the hospital, so there was a section of the house with several long and narrow rooms which I was using as guest rooms. "I designed this room with you in mind," I said, lying through my teeth. "It definitely needs a woman's touch," she replied. I laid her down on the bed and pulled the sheets over her. "Get some rest," I said, kissing her on the forehead. "Vincent and I will get your clothes in the morning." She nodded and we turned to leave. I turned off the light and started to close the door. "Cloud," Tifa said quietly. I turned with my hand still on the door's handle. "I love you," she said. "I love you too, Tifa."

I closed the door and looked around for Vincent, who I couldn't find anywhere. "Crazy vampire…" I muttered under my breath as I climbed the steps to my own room.

The next day started with a shock. I heard sirens outside my house at about six o'clock in the morning. I left my room, with only my shorts on, and opened the front door to see what the matter was. There were two cop cars in front of the hospital. Two police officers were standing in front of the hospital door, talking to a nurse. She looked a little frightened.

I ran across the street towards the nurse. She recognized me instantly. I noticed that she also was blushing a little. I then realized that I had no shirt on. 'Crap…' I thought, but I ran up to her anyways. One of the cops turned to me and said in a stern voice, "Hey look man, I don't know why you're here, but this doesn't concern you. Leave." "Relax," the nurse said. "He works here as a volunteer." "Oh…" the cop said. "What's the matter?" I said turning towards the nurse, who I knew as Julie. "Cloud…I'm so sorry." "Sorry for what? Did somebody break in last night and steal something?" "Well, sort of. I'm really, really sorry." "Was it something of mine?" "Well, yes and no. You see…Tifa is gone."

"Oh, is that all," I said laughing. Julie and the two cops looked at me strangely. "Relax. She's at my house." "Are you saying that _you_ kidnapped her?" One of the cops said. I noticed that his right hand started moving slowly towards his right side. "Hey, relax. She's fine." I then turned towards the nurse. "Thanks to an old friend of mine, we cured her." The nurse looked at me puzzled. "You mean…" she said. "Yah." I said.

She let out a short, high pitched squeal and then hugged me. She then pulled away rather suddenly and clapped. "How did you do it?! You must tell me everything that you did! This is a break through! Last time we thought that you were a miracle, but if what you say is true, then maybe we can cure more people with Life stream poisoning. So what did you do, Cloud? How did you cure her? Where is she? May I see her? Do her eyes glow like yours?"

"Wow, slow down," I said. "I'll tell you all later. But right now, I'm tired and want to go back to bed. Tifa is still asleep, I hope (I gave a mean look at the cops and then motioned towards the cars. They understood and then turned off the sirens). If you want to see her you can, but I would much rather you wait until she wakes up." One of the cops stuck out his arm and pointed to me. "Look, mister. I don't know what you did, but I came in response to a kidnapping of a Life stream victim. I must see the girl and see her returned to the hospital." "Oh, there won't be need for that," Julie interrupted. "Her name is Tifa, and she is Cloud's wife." I looked suddenly at Julie, a little alarmed at the lie. "Oh…" one of them said. "In that case then there really won't be a need to return her to the hospital, as long as she is indeed in your house." "She is." I said. "Well, then I guess we can go," one of them said. They turned and went to their respective cars. One of them turned on his radio and said some code or something. Then they both drove off.

Julie turned to me again and looked excited. Before she could say anything I interrupted her. "Not now, Julie. I am really, really tired. I'll talk to you in a few hours."

I left her on the steps to the hospital and entered my own home. I then decided to go check on Tifa. I walked as quietly as I could up to her door and then ever so slowly, opened it and too a peak.

She was still asleep under the covers, thankfully, and the approaching dawn sent a pale light into the room that seemed to illuminate her face a little. She looked angelic. I smiled and closed the door.

The rest of the morning seemed a blur to me. I slept a few extra hours, then I woke up and took a shower, I dressed myself, and then I went downstairs and started making myself, Vincent, and Tifa, some pancakes. Vincent suddenly appeared already dressed at the end of the hall way. "What was all the commotion this morning?" he said. I then explained to him what happened. He had a good laugh. "You know," he said, "if it had not worked, how would we have gotten Tifa back into the hospital, assuming she was still alive?" "Uh…I never thought that far ahead, I guess," I said.

Tifa then appeared from out behind her door. I noticed her legs were wobbling a little. Maybe her legs were more atrophied then I thought. Tifa made not mention of it however. "Good morning," she said. "What are you trying to cook, Cloud?" "Heh…trying is an appropriate word. I'm trying to make pancakes…and I don't think I'm succeeding…" I said, as one of the pancakes fell apart on my skillet.

Later that morning, once we had all eaten my "pancakes" and dressed, we left, with Tifa, to the hospital. The doctor and nurses, including Julie, had a field day with Tifa. All sorts of tests which all confirmed what we already knew: she was cured from Life stream poisoning, and since her eyes now glowed gently like my own, that she was also most likely now completely immune to it. I filled out some papers releasing Tifa from the hospital (they had officially recognized me as her guardian during the past year), and she was free to go.

Later that day, Vincent decided he should go home to Nibelheim. "You're leaving already?" I said. "Yes, I think it's about time. Besides, I can't sleep in any of your beds. Their too soft. It's horrible…"

Before Vincent left, Tifa gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek. I must say a surge of jealousy ran up my spine when she kissed him, but it dissipated quickly. "Come back soon," she said. He nodded, and then flew off. "What was that all about?" I said. "Hey, don't complain," she said. "I reserve the lips for you."

After Vincent left, I took Tifa around the town, showing her the various shops and things. She was amazed at how much the city had improved since Ultimate Weapon had come years ago. The city had almost doubled in size and population in the past year alone, and the slums and abandoned houses that had been here when we arrived with Tifa at the same time a year ago were now a thing of the past. We strolled hand in hand as I pointed out various people. Some people waved to me, others, especially some of the gorgeous young girls in the area, smiled but behind their eyes held a definite look of jealousy for Tifa.

By the time we finished the tour of the city and returned in front of my house, the sun had started to go down. Before entering, Tifa stopped me. "Cloud, there's something I have to ask you." "Hmm?" I said. "Well, actually two things. One…over the past year, did you ever…umm…well, have you had any other girls?" "Excuse me?" I said, a little confused on the question. "You know…did you ever sleep with any other girls?" I looked at her and saw the concern on her face. "No, Tifa. I would never have done that." Her face seemed to light up a little, but it still held a deep concern and darkened her eyes and countenance. "The other question I had, was, did you ever love Aerieth? I mean, really?" "Do you remember any of the conversation that we had in the Life stream, Tifa? Because I answered that question like ten times while we were in it." I said. "Well," she responded, "It's hazy. I'm pretty sure I know what you said, but I just want to be absolutely sure. And tell the truth…please." She gazed at me with almost a desperate look. "Tifa," I said, "When I first met her I thought she was a beautiful and amazing girl. The more I got to know her the more I was convinced of that. Then I thought I was starting to fall in love with her…and then she died. But I know now that I was not actually falling in love with her, because I have always loved you and just not realized it." A wave of relief swept off her face. "Hey," I said. "I never really told you what happened after the end of the battle last year, did I?" "No, you didn't," she responded. "In fact, you never told me what has happened since then." "Looks like I have some explaining to do…" I said as we walked back into my house, our arms around each other.


	25. Chapter 25: A Dream and a Memory

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Warning! The next chapter might be borderline R rated. I don't think it's actually R…but it's close. Onto chapter 25!

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We entered my house and we crashed on the couch. I then explained to her for the next several hours what happened at the battle after she passed out, up until she woke up yesterday. I did everything as detailed as I could, because I knew that she would want to know everything.

By the time we finished she had her head on my shoulders and was barely keeping awake. I wish I could have stayed like that forever. My arm around her, her head nestled under mine, the soft smell of lilac in her hair and on her skin, the way our heart beats seemed to match each others with every pulse and beat.

But I also knew that it would be best if we went to bed. "Tifa…it's midnight. Let me take you to your bed." "Can't we stay here like this?" she said, bringing her head and body even closer to mine. "Well…a little longer…" I said, kissing her forehead.

I never dreamt that loving someone so deeply could feel like this. It was bliss redefined. I was relaxed around her, but my heart always seemed to be rushing, especially when I held her close like this—a nervous excitement. I knew then that there would be no one else for me.

Which means…that I know what it is I have to do. But now is not the time. I need to make it special for her. The little blue box that I bought a few months ago on a whim and was hidden in my room, would stay there until the perfect opportunity.

I sat there for what seemed like only a moment (but was really a half hour according to the clock) before I awoke her from her gentle sleep. "Tifa…you're falling asleep already. Come on. I'll take you to your bed." "Mmm…but…" "No buts. Come on…" I swept her off the couch and again carried her into her room. I laid her down carefully on her bed, which already had a sack of her clean clothes lying on the end of it. I pointed them out to her and she said thank you. It was interesting to look at her eyes in this semi-darkness. Suddenly memories flooded back of a moment a little over a year ago when we were almost in the exact same situation. I was captivated by her hair and her face and her eyes and her body at the time. Now, I was captivated more then ever. I leaned over and kissed her good night.

Before I left I somehow got the impression that she wanted me to stay. It may have been the kiss, it may have been how her eyes looked longingly at me as I closed the door behind me, but I chose not to heed her wordless plea. "That kind of thing is reserved for marriage…" I said to myself quietly as I climbed the steps to my own room.

But Tifa was always persistent…persistent in a shy way.

Later that night I awoke to feel the presence of another person climbing into my bed. My back was turned, but I knew who it was by her lilac smell. Tifa was climbing into bed next to me.

I froze in alarm. I didn't dare move. I think she sensed my alarm and she said, "Cloud…" in such away that immediately my tension melted away. She touched my back and my heart began to pound. She then drew close to me and she kissed the back of my neck.

Instantly an argument exploded in my mind. My heart and my mind were suddenly combating each other in a way that had never happened before.

Mind: You can't let this happen, Cloud. This kind of thing is reserved for marriage.

Heart: Hey listen, you love her. She loves you. Is it wrong to share what feelings you have for each other?

Mind: What if she gets pregnant. What will everyone think of you then? What will Barrett do? He'll just as soon blow your head off!

Heart: But even he knows that you love her. Besides, just say that she was the one who started it. You wouldn't be telling a lie either.

Mind: What about the sanctimony of marriage?

Heart: What about the sanctimony of love?

Mind: What…what about….

Heart: What about Tifa?

I turned towards her.

Heart: She's waiting for you.

I kissed her and began to caress her neck. Her touch was sweet and gentle, like the dew coming from an early morning breeze, or the smooth sweet taste of pure honey caressing the tongue.

Mind: How much more will this mean to the both of you if you marry her first?

I stopped.

Mind: Don't you want to give her what's in the blue box? How much more will it mean if you go through with marrying her and doing everything right first?

"Cloud?" she said.

Heart: Dude…what the heck is wrong with you?

Mind: Nothing is wrong. Only that…

"Tifa, I love you, but I can't do this. I love you too much to hurt you." "You won't hurt me Cloud…" she said, putting her arms around my neck and trying to pull me closer to her. "That's not what I meant," I said pulling away.

She looked at me as though I had just crushed her heart. "But Cloud…we…we love each other. And no one is around…no one will know…" "I will know," I said as I swung my legs around and got out of the bed.

I didn't bother to look at her. I had never thought that Tifa would be like this. I never thought that she would be this easy about her body. Suddenly a thought crossed my mind as I stood there my back turned, alone in the middle of the room.

"Tifa, you asked me today if I have ever been with a girl before. I told you that the answer is no, and I wasn't lying. I have never been with a girl before. But now I have two questions for you. One, why did you ask me that?" She didn't say anything at first. "Because…I just wanted to know." This didn't seem like an adequate answer but I didn't really care so I didn't pursue it. The next question was the important one. "Okay, then I have a second question for you. Have you ever been with a guy? Have you ever slept with any one else before?"

She said nothing. She began to cry.

I leaned up against the dresser in my room. I felt sick. I felt hurt in a way I never knew possible. Sephiroth never could have cut me as deeply as the way Tifa just did. I felt my innards curl and my heart sunk into a colorless void. I was sinking…falling…

"It's not what you think Cloud," she said between sobs. "Oh really?" I yelled. "Who was it? Were you as easy about your body to him as you just were to me? Never mind. I don't want to know." I grabbed a shirt and headed for the door.

"Cloud, don't go yet."

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't deny her. I stood there like a statue in front of the door, my back still turned.

"Don't take me the wrong way, Cloud," she continued. "You never gave me much of an opportunity to answer. And the reason why I didn't answer right away is because I don't know the answer to that question." "Yah right. I think you would know if you slept with a guy before," I said, the hurt cutting ever deeper. "No, hear me out," she said. "I know that guys find me attractive. I'm a lucky girl. There was a time that I could have had any guy I ever wanted during High School. But I wouldn't do it. I wanted to wait until I was really in love.

"A few weeks after I graduated, I moved out of Nibelheim and into Midgar, trying to seek a new life for myself away from my parents. One day I was walking down the street heading back to my apartment, and then this guy appeared from out behind an alley way. I don't know who he was. He had dark hair and a strong build. He was really strong. Stronger then me by a long shot. He…he…followed me a little ways. I started to panic and I ran. He kept up with me, in fact he started to gain on me. Soon I started running up and down streets with no idea where I was going. That was a mistake, because I eventually found myself in a dark alley with a brick wall in front of me preventing any escape…

"…I fought him Cloud. I fought him for as long as I could, but he hit me hard on the head with something. When I woke up, I heard gun shots and the screams of the dying. I opened my eyes, and saw that I was lying on the streets with my pants off. The next thing I knew a large guy with short hair and huge arms appeared. He asked me if I was alright…but I passed out again. When I woke up next I was in a small bed with a single light next to me. I looked up and there was that same guy with the short hair and huge arms who had rescued me. It was Barrett. That's how we met Cloud. He saved me from that thug. He had also killed him…I think. Barrett never told me if he did or not but I'm convinced he did. From that day forward, Barrett took it upon himself to protect me. And my way of returning the favor was to join his new radical environmentalist group, which later we called AVALANCHE.

"In honesty, Cloud, I have never slept with anyone before intentionally. But I don't know if I am still a virgin. I never found out how far he got. I never got pregnant, so that would suggest that Barrett came across that %&$# before he was done, but neither of us know." She stared at me, hurt, crying, and with eyes that screamed of loneliness.

I didn't say anything at first. I finally said, my voice hoarse, "Then why did you come in here?" "I…I…" she put her head in her hands and sobbed uncontrollably. "I love you Cloud…" she finally managed to get out.

What are you supposed to say after a conversation like that? What are you supposed to do? Are you supposed to leave her to her misery? My mind wanted to but my heart didn't. Are you supposed to just forgive and forget? My heart did but my mind didn't. I didn't know what the right thing to do was, so I let my feelings guide me.

I walked over next to her, and put my arm around her.

Again she put her arms around me and balled just like she had over a year ago. Again we said nothing for over an hour just like over a year ago. Again I tried to comfort her but was at a loss for words just like over a year ago.

But this time, things couldn't be more different.

After about an hour, give or take, she finally stopped crying and she let her arms fall from her grip around me. She looked up at me sorrowfully. After a moment of complete silence between us, I said, "I forgive you. Can you forgive me for misunderstanding?" "Of course," she said.

Suddenly a new argument exploded in my mind again.

Heart: You should give her the box. It will mend the canyon you just made between you two tonight.

Mind: No, you should wait for the perfect opportunity.

Heart: Ideally, you should. But I get the feeling that there won't be a perfect opportunity anymore. You need to do it now.

Mind: …I guess your right. There probably won't be a perfect moment anymore. Now is as good as any.

I stood up and walked towards the dresser. I heard Tifa start to get out of the bed. I could tell that she was going to go back to her own bed downstairs. "Stop, Tifa." She froze in her sitting position, feet touching the floor. "I…uh…there's a gift that I've been waiting a long time to give to you." "A gift? What is it?" she asked. I smiled in the darkness of the room, grateful for the mask it was giving me because I couldn't hide my anticipation. I waited to answer until I was able to control my voice. "Well, it's nothing much. I bought it a few months ago on a whim. I'm not really sure why I bought it in the first place. I bought it when I was in complete despair. It was probably the only time that I ever thought that you wouldn't wake up from the Life stream poisoning. That's probably why I bought it, now that I think about it…because the thought of being able to one day give it to you made me believe that one day you would wake up. It gave me hope when I didn't have any."

I fumbled through the dresser, and pulled out the blue box. It shook in my nervous hands. I took a step towards her. I could now see her face. She had an expression of complete confusion and anticipation. Good. She didn't know what I was about to do.

I froze. How do I ask her? The words suddenly seemed gone from my mouth and mind. I searched my mind desperately for the words, but the hard beat of my heart seemed to distract my mind from focusing.

"Cloud…before you give to me, whatever it is you're going to give to me, how long would you have waited for me to wake up?"

I was grateful for this question, because I found my voice and my words again because of them. "Well…I guess I would have waited until you woke up." "No seriously, Cloud, how long would you have waited?" "Tifa, something you should know. You have no idea how happy I am now that you're awake. But during the past year I was happy to be able to just be with you. To be able to joke with you and hold your hand and feed you. To tell you the events of my day and to see you look back at me confused. You were all I needed to keep going, insane as you were. And I would have rather stayed by you like you were then to have left you and lived life. I would have waited forever." She did a little movement of her chest, like a sigh, but a little different. Did she have butterflies in her stomach?

"So what is it, Cloud? Is it a teddy bear or something?" I almost laughed. She couldn't even see the blue box in my hand. Not even with the moon light streaming in brightly through the window, apparently it was still too dark for her eyes to penetrate the darkness around my hand.

"I'll show you, but you have to close your eyes first. It's was supposed to be a surprise. I want to keep it that way."

"Okay…" she said, putting her hands over her eyes. I opened the box as quietly as I could and stared at the ring in front of me. It had a large central diamond, surrounded by two small red rubies. The ring itself was of 16K gold, with small engravings of two dolphins, one on each side, joined by a heart at the "bottom" of the ring. It was specially designed, and had already been sized for Tifa's left finger. One of the benefits of Tifa's insanity was that she never knew I had had her finger measured by the local ring maker. And now, the circle was to be complete.

She still had her eyes closed and her hands over her eyes. I moved next to her and sat down on one knee. I positioned myself so that the moonlight would shine on the ring, showing it off.

I took in a deep breath and said, "You can open your eyes now…"

She opened her eyes in slow motion. She saw me first, and then I think she caught the glint of the ring in the blue box in my hands.

Her face lit up in an instant. She let in a deep breath and started to shake. She looked at me, and then back at the ring, and then back at me. She was smiling wide, and her legs started bouncing and excitedly.

"Tifa…" she looked up to the heavens with an expression of utter joy in her eyes.

"Will you marry me?" I took the ring out of the box and slid it onto her finger. She gazed at it for a second, and then she said, her lips trembling, "Yes."

"Good, cuz this hardwood floor is killing my knee…" I said, putting both knees on the floor so it wouldn't hurt so much. She laughed and then she leaned down and kissed me passionately. She let herself down off of the bed smoothly, and then sat in my lap, her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. She then kissed me again and I enjoyed her love and the warmth of her body and heart.

After a few moments, we finally unlocked our lips. She gazed at me with a look of love, gratitude, and passion. It had never occurred to me until that very moment, that she was wearing absolutely nothing but a long T-shirt that went to about the middle of her thigh. She put my hand in hers and led it to the bottom of the shirt. "I love you Cloud, and now that you're my fiancé, isn't it right that we share our love?" "Tifa," I said, controlling my hand. "I'm grateful for your offer, but I want this to be done right. I want to marry you first. I want everyone to see how beautiful and perfect a person you are first. I know it sounds old fashioned, but I want to wait." I then took her hand in mine and put her hand on my chest, letting her hand feel my heart beat. "I love you already in here. Let's save the other part of our love until the time is right." She nodded, and then hugged me. "Thank you…" she said. "Hey, thank you." I responded. I smiled and then said sarcastically, "Because I'm tired of cooking. I mean, you saw how bad my pancakes were this morning. I need a wife who can make a decent plate of scrambled eggs…" She laughed hard.

As I had done before, I swept her off her feet and carried her to her room. I laid her down and showered her neck and lips with kisses, finally saying, "Good night, sweetheart," as I left the room.

I walked calmly up to my room and closed the door behind me, and then let out a whispered "YES!" I did a little victory dance, and then realizing how tired I was, I lied down in bed and let my exhaustion consume me, dreaming of Tifa and our wedding to be.


	26. Chapter 26: A Dream and a Memory

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Chapter 26.

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I woke up with the smell of scrambled eggs in the air. I got out of bed and put on a white shirt. I then walked downstairs to see Tifa standing in front of the stove, with shorts and that same long T-shirt that she had had on just last night. Apparently she didn't know I was awake yet, so I snuck up behind her. I then put my arms around her waist and put my head on her left shoulder in one swift move. She jumped in fright, but then let out a quiet purr-like sound. "Good morning," I said. "Mmmm…good morning, Cloud." "Heh. You're making eggs already. Anxious to be a wife, eh?" "Damn right."

We sat at the table and had her eggs. Once again, it became apparent that Tifa was a much better bartender then a cook, but she was still way better then me. At least her food stayed together in one piece.

Tifa couldn't take her eyes off me. I had trouble taking my eyes off of her long enough to actually eat breakfast. I guess that's what you do when you're completely in love.

It then occurred to me. After I had denied her body twice, she hugged me and said 'thank you.' Thank you. Did that mean 'thank you for finally proposing?' Or did it mean something else? Had she felt obligated to try and give herself to me? Why would she feel that way?

I thought about asking her, but then thought against it. The memory was still too fresh and too vulnerable a topic to discuss right now.

I finished the under-cooked eggs, and turning to Tifa said, "Thanks, that was really good…" "Liar," she smiled calling my bluff. "Hey, it's better then what I could make," I responded, trying to make her feel a little better.

"So what do you want to do today?" I asked. She thought a moment, and then said, "Well…should we call all the others and tell them the news?" She then gazed at her three stone ring, with a smile on her face and in her eyes. "I guess…but shouldn't we set a date first? You know…set a time to get married?" "Yah…probably." We discussed it, and we both decided that we wanted to get married fairly soon, but not so soon that we wouldn't have enough time to get everything and everyone ready. We decided at four months from today. Four months. I can wait that long.

I picked up the plates and started to clean them, my fiancé by my side helping me. As we finished, I asked her, "Where do you want to go?" "Huh?" she replied confused. "I renewed a promise one year ago that I would take you away somewhere," I said. "Away from all the hubbub of the world. So…where do you want to go?" She looked at me still confused. "Do you mean on our honeymoon? Or where to live afterwards?" "Well actually, both." I responded. "Well…I thought that maybe we could go someplace warm for our honeymoon. I thought maybe Costa del Sol would be nice." "Costa del Sol it is, if that's what you want." "It is, but I'll go anywhere you want to, if you would rather go someplace else." "Costa del Sol sounds great, as long as you're there." She again did that strange little sigh that I had seen her do last night after my 'I would have waited for you forever' comment. "And afterwards? Where do you want to live?" I asked. She turned and stared at the pool of soapy water in the sink. "Well…with the money between the two of us we could live for a long time just about anywhere. But we should go somewhere where we can do something to support ourselves. You know, in case we run out of money." "Midgar?" I asked. "No…I hate that place," she said. "How about Junon?" I asked. "Well…" she paused. "We could, but Junon reminds me a lot of Midgar. It's too big, and is made of metal and concrete. I'm sick of metal and concrete." I thought for a moment. "Well…there's Kalm, Nibelheim, Rocket Town, Utai, Cosmo Canyon…that's about it, unless you want to take over the Chocobo Sage's house." She laughed. "Well, what about right here in Mideel. You already have a house. Why not?" "I guess we could do that," I responded, "but it's not the homiest house in the world. I mean, I designed it so that it could be converted into a hospital." "That doesn't mean that we have to move away, does it?" she asked. "I guess you're right. We'll stay here, as long as you would like."

Over the next week we started making some basic plans, but we still hadn't called anyone with the news after an entire week. We were too busy with figuring out what we wanted to happen at the wedding, as well as having picnics, dates, and meeting and introducing Tifa to the people around town. Actually, I never really had to go to anyone to introduce Tifa. I found very quickly that word had already spread that my wife (we had to explain to everyone that she was in fact my fiancé and not my wife yet) had waken from her insanity, and everyone was very eager to meet her. Everywhere we went we would find ourselves with a small group of people around us, shaking hands and rattling off names and wishes of good luck to our marriage. I even heard a couple of people say how lucky Tifa was. The people that said this were mostly the ones who had had friends or relatives in the hospital over the past year, and had seen me serve her hand and foot without any thought of reward besides drool. "You two share something special," they would say. "And you young lady, are especially lucky. It takes real love to be able to stay and help someone for an entire year. Even more so when the person you're serving doesn't even know that you're there." Tifa always gripped my hand a little tighter whenever she heard something like that.

Once we had ironed out the details of what we wanted for our wedding, the phone calls began. Tifa called her family first, and they seemed half-hearted about our marriage. "You're going to marry that little kid with the spiky hair? Well…if you're happy about it then we support you, but I never thought you would marry a scrawny little kid like him." I guess they never realized that I had grown up to be one of the strongest men on the planet.

Next came Barrett. Tifa did the honors (I didn't like talking on phones, not even to my closest friends. It always seemed awkward and too impersonal to me). I listened to Tifa's side of the conversation, and from what I gathered, Barrett had started to cry, although now that I think about it, it was because Barrett had not found out until that moment that Tifa had waken from her insanity. Yah, that was probably it. After talking to Tifa for a few moments, Tifa suddenly handed the receiver to me and said, "He wants to talk to you." I picked up the phone. "Hey Barrett," I said a little awkwardly. Like I said, I don't like talking on the phone. "Cloud you spiky-ass #$%#! Way to go man! So how does it feel to be tied down?" "Uh…good." "Good answer, cuz if you hadn't have said that I would have marched on over there and blown your ass all over the %$#& wall…"

I talked to him for a few more minutes before saying good-bye and letting the receiver down. "What did he say?" Tifa asked. "Not a whole lot," I started. "He said congratulations…kind of. But most of the conversation were threats that if I ever hurt you he would blow my head off." "Good ol' Barrett…" she said.

We wanted to tell Red XIII next, but they don't have phones in Cosmo Canyon. So we called Cid next instead. Tifa again talked to him in the same excited voice. The conversation only lasted a few minutes. When Tifa hung up, she told me, "Cid said that it's about &%$# time that you proposed." I did a short laugh. "But not too late I hope." Tifa smiled. "Did you tell him to use Highwind to tell Red XIII the news?" I asked. "Of course, she said.

Before Tifa called Yuffie next, she turned and asked me, "How long have you waited to propose? I mean, I only woke up a few days ago, and you proposed pretty much right away. So have you been anxious or something?" I scratched the back of my head nervously. "Well…I've been waiting…I guess since I bought you your ring a few months ago. By then I had decided that if you did wake up I was going to propose. But I didn't plan to do it so sudden like I did. I was going to wait for the perfect moment—a sunset on a hill or something. But a week ago, when…well…err…it just seemed like a good time to do it, I guess." "You wanted to mend the rift between us," Tifa said, reading my mind. "Yah…" I said. "That's okay, Cloud," she replied. "I'm actually kind of glad that you did it when you did. I mean, I would have expected it during a sunset or a picnic or something. You totally caught me off-guard, and I wouldn't have had it any other way."

Tifa called Yuffie next. Yuffie sounded very excited when she heard Tifa's voice on the other line. Tifa took a few minutes to explain how Vincent and I had brought her back from her insanity. Then when she said, "Cloud and I are going to get married," there was an odd silence followed by a scream that even I heard from across the room. It was so loud and so sudden that Tifa dropped the phone in fright. I stood up from my seat and picked up the phone to talk to Yuffie so Tifa wouldn't have to. Yuffie was still screaming uncontrollably. "Yuffie? Is that you?" I asked. Suddenly there was silence. "Yuffie? It's me, Cloud. Are you there?" "Yah, I'm here you %&$#," she replied. Man, she must really be pissed about something. She hardly ever curses. "Are you okay, Yuffie?" "No," she said sternly with a hint of sadness. "I always thought _I_ was going to marry you, Cloud."

I stood there like a statue. A part of me wanted to console her. A part of me wanted to laugh out loud because of the absurdity of the idea. Instead, I just handed to phone back to Tifa and said, "You talk to her."

Tifa took it and tried to talk to her, but she mostly just got screams which I now recognized as pure jealousy and anger. I laughed when Tifa started panicking because Yuffie let out a particularly loud scream. Tifa thought that Yuffie had just stabbed herself or something. "Nope," I said. "But she might stab you the next time she sees you." Tifa looked at me puzzled. "I'll explain after you're done trying to talk to her."

It didn't take her long to hang up. When she did she looked at me and said, "What the hell was that all about?" I laughed. "She said that she had always thought I was going to marry her, not you. Jeez, you think that she would have put two and two together by now. I mean, I've been down here with you for a year now."

And so the arrangements were made and the first three months went by without a hitch. Tifa chose her wedding colors as dark blue and white. The dark blue didn't surprise me at all. When I had been in Tifa's mind, there had been a picture of me in a tux with a dark blue cumber bun and bow tie. Not wanting to disappoint her deepest desires I got a tux just like in her mind, except that I added penguin tails on the back of the coat. I thought they looked funny but kind of cool, and Tifa would probably get a kick out of them, so I figured, why not?

The question was, where were we actually going to get married?

I secretly knew where I wanted it, but I thought that it might hurt Tifa to suggest it, so I had kept quiet about it, hoping Tifa would come up with her own idea on which chapel to have it done at, or maybe by some miracle she would choose the one I was thinking of.

About one month out from the wedding, I was lying on the floor in Tifa's room, late at night. Tifa was lying on the bed and I stared out the window. I had been coming down and sleeping in her room for a few weeks now. Tifa didn't seem to mind at all. In fact I think she liked it. But the real benefactor was me. I got to enjoy her faint lilac smell pretty much every night. It was intoxicating, and I couldn't seem to get enough of it.

As I gazed out the window at the stars from the floor, Tifa turned over and looked at me from atop the bed. I thought she had been asleep, so I looked up at her surprised. "Cloud," she said dreamily. Was she still half asleep? "Yah?" I responded. "Where do you want to get married?" she asked. "I mean, it's only a month away and people have got to know these things if they are going to come…" Nope, I guess she was wide awake. "Well…we've worked out the wedding together pretty much from the start," I said, "deciding which flowers to get, who to get to cater for us, the whole thing. But I thought that I would leave the 'where to get married,' up to you." She looked down at me with narrow eyes. "You're not telling me something are you?" Damn it! She can always read my mind somehow… "Uh…what do you mean?" "You've avoided this subject for the past three months now. I mean, I haven't just come up and directly asked you until now, but I've given some not-so-subtle hints. Like when we ordered the cake I asked, 'Now where in the chapel are we going to put this?' I was hoping that you would have said, 'You know, we haven't even decided where we're going to get married.' But instead you were just silent. So I think there's something that you're not telling me."

"Tifa," I responded. "I've put some thought to it, and my decision was to let you decide where it's going to be. It's your day just as much as mine." "So why don't you give me your ideas?" "Because it's your day too." "And it's yours too, Cloud. Come on, tell me your thoughts."

Unable to avoid the question any longer, I said, "Well Tifa, there are two people that won't be coming to our wedding. One is Cait Sith. I mean, his controller might show up by some miracle, but I doubt it, unless we were married somewhere in Midgar where maybe he would read about it in the newspaper and come." "Okay…" Tifa said, wanting me to continue. "The other person who won't be coming," I continued, "will be Aerieth." "Yah…" Tifa said. "So…I was thinking that, now it's completely your choice and I really in truth don't mind where we get married, but I was thinking about getting married in…"

"Aerieth's church," we said together.

She took her eyes off of me and stared up at the ceiling. Here I had tried to avoid the subject for the longest time, because I didn't want to see what Tifa would do. Would she reject me and still say I was in love with her? Would she not care? Would she not talk to me again for a long time? "Tifa," I said. "It's okay Cloud," she said. I felt a wave of relief sweep over me. "In reality," she continued, "I was thinking the same thing." "Really?" I said, sounding more surprised then I intended. "Well, you, Barrett, Cid, and whoever else you can get are going to have to clean it up real good, but I would like for Aerieth to come, or at least feel like she was there." "What about you're dream?" I said. "What dream?" she asked. "Never mind…" I said.

The next morning I called Cid and Barrett, and told them to meet me in front of Aerieth's church the next day. Cid agreed to pick me up, and said that he would leave from Rocket town in a few hours, so I should expect him sometime late in the evening. Tifa agreed to stay behind for an extra week and iron out some more things before she left. I didn't ask her what these 'things' were, but I think it had something to do with her wedding dress.

That day seemed to go too fast. Come to think of it, the past three months have gone by really fast, like I had been in a timeless blissful dawn with Tifa, while the world around us spun and flew by without recall. Somewhere around five o'clock, I saw Highwind pass high overhead, meaning that Cid would be showing up at my door any minute now. I turned and kissed Tifa good-bye. I know it was only going to be a week, but it suddenly sounded like a year. I didn't want to leave. Tifa saw my dismay, and then, without saying anything, she pressed her body against mine, and gave me a slow, passionate kiss like the one she had given to me just after I proposed. I felt my heart melt and my dismay washed away as my body was strengthened and my spirit quenched. She pulled away and said, "We've talked a lot about what we want at our wedding ceremony. Now go make it happen." With that, she pushed me out the door.


	27. Chapter 27: A Dream and a Memory

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It's been a long time since I made a new chapter, large in part because I've been on vacation. But, I must again tell you that basically all the cool stuff is over. Now I'm just finishing the story, though this is not the last chapter.

Anyway, here's chapter 27.

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I found Cid just outside of town. He had is usual cigar stuffed in his mouth, and he was also wearing his usual battle garb/pilot gear. I on the other hand was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. Cid took one look at me and the cigar fell out of his mouth. "Hey Cid," I said. He looked me up and down, and said, "#%&! What happened to you, Cloud?" "What do you mean?" I said. "Look at you! Where's your sword? Did your damn fiancé make you stop wearin it?" "Don't talk about Tifa like that," I said narrowing my eyes. "Sheesh, you have changed," he said.

We walked back to Highwind. Cid, ever anxious to make Highwind even better, had added two small engines on either side of the bottom deck. He also added a large rudder like piece of metal on top of the ship. Cid said it was for stability during high speed flight. I got nervous when he said high speed. High speed for me was very different then Cid's version of high speed.

As we boarded, Cid asked, "So what is this all about Cloud? Do you want a bachelor party? Cuz if you do, I know of some damn fine places in Rocket town…" "No," I said. "That's not why I called you here, although a bachelor party doesn't sound like a bad idea. Tifa and I want to get married in Aerieth's old church." "Ok…and how does this involve me?" "Well, first off, I needed a ride there because I need to fix up the place in three weeks so that it's presentable. The other reason, in all honesty, was that…err…I was hoping you were going to help me…"

"Sure, if it means I don't have to buy you two a %$#& wedding gift. I hate buying gifts for people." "Deal," I said.

"However," he said. "I do have one little surprise for you…" "Oh? What's that?" I said. He opened the door and let me into Highwind. "I don't see anything," I said, glancing around. "It's on the bridge," he said. I walked down the bridge and opened the door. There on the bridge was Vincent, Yuffie, and Red XIII. "SURPRISE!" Yuffie yelled. I smiled. "What is this?" I asked to no one in particular. Cid turned to me. "The others decided to all go on Highwind at the same time and just stay in Midgar a few extra weeks. It was convenient for me…this way I'm not some damn chauffer."

I sat down and I talked to Red XIII, Vincent, Yuffie, and Cid (intermittently) about how Vincent and I had managed to pull Tifa back together (Vincent chimed in a few times) and then I talked about how I had proposed. Cid scoffed at me and Yuffie looked at me disappointed. "I know," I said. "I wanted to propose at a more appropriate moment, like at a sunset or on the beach or something. But…the time was right. It felt right when I did it." Red XIII looked at me. "It's good to follow your feelings. Maybe that was the perfect moment and you just don't know it." "True," I responded. "Tifa even said that she would have expected me to propose while at a romantic moment. She said that I totally caught her off-guard, and that she would not have had it any other way." Yuffie suddenly smiled but then looked at the ground. I noticed she was staring at her fingers. 'Poor Yuffie,' I thought. 'It must be though trying to find a guy when they know that you can beat the living &%$ out of them any time you want.'

I then told all of them why I was leaving Tifa to go to Midgar. Vincent agreed to help, and Red XIII also said he would help to the best of his ability. Yuffie didn't say anything at first, but she said that she would help out every once in a while. You can always trust Yuffie to get you out of a bad situation when it means stealing something or killing something. Beyond that, it's difficult to get her to do anything, so this was a welcome surprise.

We arrived at Midgar some hours later and Barrett met us in front of Aerieth's church, just as planned. He agreed to help whole heartedly. I thanked him and then gazed at the project before me. The pink colored paint was chipping off, and all but one of the stained glass windows were broken. There was a huge hole in the roof, and the door hung awkwardly. Several boards on the outside of the church had dry rot and would have to be replaced. Also, there was a ton of rubble around the church itself that would have to be moved someplace else.

And this was only the outside.

Inside, the padding on the chairs were worn and torn. The wood on the chairs also would need a good polishing…but that was about it for them. The floor itself creaked, and all but a few of the boards were bent, warped, or splintered at some point. There was a gigantic hole in the ground where daffodils used to grow but have since died, leaving a dank smell of decay. There was no pew, and the rug that sat where the pew should go no longer had any discernable color. Even after Vincent beat on it for a minute to get rid of the dust, there was no way to tell what the original color was.

"Talk about your fixer-upper…" Barrett said quietly. "I know," I said. "But I have a feeling that this is going to be a lot easier then it looks." "How's that?" Yuffie asked. "I think that Aerieth will probably help out a bit," I responded. Cid looked at me funny. "Cloud, Aerieth's dead, and according to you she refused to be brought back. Is there something you didn't tell us before, or are you going crazy on us?" "Neither," I responded. "At least I hope not neither. But I just think that…oh never mind."

Cid decided that he would take care of the windows and paint. Vincent decided to fix the roof. Red XIII said he would work on the chairs on the inside. Yuffie promised half-heartedly to find a pew and a preacher. Barrett agreed to get rid of the rubble outside the church. And I was left with the flooring and decorations.

And so it began. None of us wasted any time in getting started. I hired several hands to help tear up the floor and lay down new flooring. Barrett rented the biggest freaking tractor I have ever seen, and for days he removed rubble and put it…somewhere. I never asked him where he put it. Just as long as it was out of the way.

Cid bought a ladder and several buckets of pink paint. He hated the color pink, and more then once he tried to convince me to change the color to something like white, but Tifa and I had decided we wanted the place to look exactly as it would have looked when it was first built. So Cid, cursing under his breath, started painting.

Red XIII found it easy to tear out the old cushioning to the chairs, but nearly impossible to reinstall new cushioning. In the end, I had to take time out of my floor work and help him reinstall it myself. Opposable thumbs help a lot, as Red XIII pointed out.

No one heard from Yuffie for almost a week, and then one day she showed up, dragging a huge mahogany pew down the street. She had it tied to herself via a rope around her waist, and she was sweating bricks as she took one painful step at a time. Cid, Barrett and I all ran to help her, and between the four of us we lifted the deceptively heavy pew into the church, right in the center of the stage.

We saw little of Vincent during the week. Sometimes we would hear him hammer away or break something, but usually he was quiet. It was always interesting though to come in the next day and see the entire roof polished inside and out, or to see what improvements he had done to the hole in the roof.

And so a week passed by quicker then I thought it would. On the eighth morning, I woke up to hear someone knocking on the door of my dusty apartment, and opening it I saw Tifa standing there. She was holding a couple of bags in each arm and was breathing heavily, and by looking at her legs I could tell she had been tanning. "Let me help you with those," I said, grabbing the bags. I didn't know what was in them, but I figured I wasn't supposed to know anyway so I didn't look. Instead I just stared at Tifa who had her hands on her knees as she tried to recover her breath. "Tifa, are you okay?" I said, putting down one of the bags so I had a free arm. "Yah…" she said. "It's just…more difficult…to carry things these…days…" She must have been referring to her atrophied muscles. "Well come in and sit down. No need to stand out there," I said.

I led her to a little chair in the corner. I then (after I put down the bags) got her a glass of water and pulled over another chair so I could sit next to her. She thanked me and chugged the whole thing down. Afterwards she finally lifted her head so that she could see my room. She looked at it with a look that said, 'and my fiancé actually lives here?' "Well," I said, "I've been busy cleaning the church. I've had no time to even dust here. All I do here is sleep." She smiled and then looked at me with loving eyes. "I've missed you," she said. "I have too…" I said, kissing her.

After a few minutes I left her on the chair so that I could go take a shower and get dressed and stuff. I emerged from the shower and looked at my long hair. I have never understood why, but even after a shower, it still manages to always stick straight up. I then tried, for the first time in a long time, to comb it down. Each brush stroke only made it seem to stick up even more. I then used gel. It made my hair glossy and hard, and now made my hair stick out in all directions, not just up. I eventually gave up, washed my hair again, and got dressed.

Tifa was waiting for me by the door. She also had changed from her old fighting getup to into a red flowing dress that went down to just above her knees. She smiled when I emerged from the shower in my old battle garb. I looked at her, then myself, and then muttered stupidly, "Uh…should I change?" "No, that's okay." She responded. And so we left, hand in hand, but not before I told her how beautiful she was.

I took her to the church and showed her our progress and it seemed to me that she wasn't pleased. I looked at her and she looked back at me a little disappointed. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Umm…I was just thinking…" she replied slowly. "What?" I asked concerned, especially because I was scared she would say she didn't like what Cid, Red XIII, Barrett, Vincent, Yuffie and I had done. "Who are we going to invite?" she asked. I almost fell over in relief. "Uh…everyone," I replied. "Well," she continued, "there's the gang, and then I have family in Nibelheim, as well as a few of my girl-friends, but who else is there? I mean, that's not a whole lot of people if you think about it." "True," I said, at a loss for words. Neither of us said anything for a moment, but instead we just stared at the church and its lofty pink front and new stained glass windows.

"Everyone," I said finally. She looked at me puzzled. "We'll invite everyone," I said. "But—" she tried to say, but I interrupted her by saying, "Why not?"

She looked long and hard into me. "Even the Turks?" she asked. "Why not?" I replied. "Well, why should we? They've hated us since we first met them." "Why shouldn't we?" I responded. "Ever since they've been out of business they've had no reason to fight us. Remember in the tunnels below the Shrina building? The Turks showed up, but I told them to leave, and they did, because they didn't care any more." "That's just it Cloud, they don't care about us." "But how much more fun would the wedding be if they showed up. If they're nice, then they'll be good company. And if they're mean, well, we can beat the hell out of them one more time for old times' sake. How about it?" Tifa looked at me skeptically but slowly a laugh started in her gut. Eventually it broke and her face smiled. She nodded.

I showed her inside the church and she smiled at the improvements we had made. When she looked at the mahogany pew, she gawked. "How did you get that over here? The thing must way a ton!" she said amazed. "Yuffie dragged it here…" I said. She looked at me amazed. "No joke," I said.

And so that portion of the day ended. Tifa and I talked a little more and she agreed to take charge of the decorations and the invitations, while the rest of us would just work our asses off in the church. I was glad actually. The decorations seemed to me more of a daunting task then the renovation of the church.

That night, I slept on the floor of my apartment, with Tifa on the bed. She was sleeping already, but despite my exhaustion, I couldn't sleep. I stood up and looked outside. All was quiet. I then listened carefully to the activity around my house—only Tifa's breathing was heard. I calmed myself and told myself I was only anxious and uptight. I walked over to Tifa. I kissed her cheek and then stared at her. She seemed perfectly content right then, lost in her dreams, and the more I looked at her the more my heart and mind seemed to relax as well.

It seems silly, but I guess that that was all I needed to sleep that night.

The next day started much the same as the previous, with Tifa and I going out hand in hand and walking around town, until the time was come for us to go to work.

And that day ended much the same as the day before. In truth, all seemed blissfully simple for me for almost the next three weeks.

And then, the night before the wedding came.


	28. Chapter 28: A Dream and a Memory

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Chapter 28.

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Tifa was pacing around the room nervously. I think she was going over the decorations and invitations and what not in her mind. But she had already taken care of everything. I know because she had talked to me incessantly over the past month about all that she had done and all of her worries. Would the food be good, I hope we didn't over do the decorations, will her dress be adjusted on time, do I have my tux lined up and ready to go, will the flowers be ready on time, will they be ready to early and begin to wilt, etc… And she did this whenever I was right about to sleep. Man, if she does this every night after we're married, it's going to drive me nuts.

But never before had Tifa actually paced around in nervousness. But I wasn't worried. Like I said, Tifa had personally gone over every possible detail with scrutiny.

But she wasn't pacing out of nervousness like I thought. I found out later that that was just a ploy to keep me awake.

About 10:30, I heard a knock on the door. Tifa was muttering to herself and didn't seem to hear so I got up and answered the door.

Six figures of varying height and size in tuxes stood before me. They were all wearing sunglasses despite the darkness outside, and they had all positioned themselves so that their faces were obscured by the shadows around. I didn't have time to even say 'Hello' before one of them said, "Well, you asked for a bachelor party, so get ready for the party of your life!" With that a big dark guy grabbed me by the arm and practically threw me into a black car that was waiting just feet away. I didn't even have time to react. I was so busy trying to put together what was going around me, and trying to figure out when I had wanted a bachelor party, to ever even realize what was going on. It wasn't until the car started speeding away and I turned to see Tifa waving and smiling that I realized what had just happened.

"Damn it Cid, I asked for a bachelor party, not a kidnapping," I said.

They all laughed. I then saw their faces. Cid was sitting next to me on the left, with Barrett on my right. Vincent was sitting across from me in the limousine smiling a little. There were also three other figures in the car. I looked at the one sitting across from Vincent first. He was short, and was wearing a tux that didn't seem to fit him quite right. He had glossy black hair that went to about his shoulders, and now with his sunglasses off I could see that he wore contacts, and underneath were dark blue eyes that were amazing to look at. His nose was also slightly crooked, as if he had broke it as a kid, and his nose never really grew back quite right. He looked up at me and smiled. "The name's Kurt Shem. We know each really well, but I must say you look a lot different in person then you do through a pair of video cameras." I looked at him puzzled. "Heh," he laughed, "Cloud, I'm Cait Sith." It then dawned on me. I nearly jumped out of my seat to shake his hand. His hands were hard with calluses and were surprisingly strong, and he shook my hand hard, but I didn't really notice. Here before my eyes was Cait Sith's controller in the flesh. And it made sense too. His name was Kurt Shem, which is strikingly similar to Cait Sith. After I said 'it's so good to finally meet you,' probably one too many times, I asked him, "So how did you find us?" He looked at Barrett. Barrett then said, "Well, Tifa was the one who really thought of trying to find Kurt, so she wanted to put an add in the paper looking for a missing person named Cait Sith, but she knew she couldn't do it without you finding out, and she wanted to keep it a surprise. So she came to Cid and me to figure out what we could do. We ended up posting on just about every street lamp in town a big yellow paper that said 'Missing, man named Cait Sith. If you know him, please call 628, something, something, something.'" "But why didn't I see one?" I interrupted. "We avoided the area around your house and the area around the church." Cid said simply. "Oh…" "Anyway," Barrett continued, "we got a call about a week ago from this guy (pointing to Kurt) and here he is." "I was planning on showing up for the wedding and meeting you then when I finally heard about it," Kurt said, "but I couldn't pass up the bachelor party. No way."

It was then that I noticed the other two men in the limousine. The one that was driving was bald, with a passenger to his right with short, red, unkempt hair.

I stood up in alarm, hitting my head hard against the ceiling of the car.

"Rude, Reno—what the hell are you doing here?!" I yelled. Barrett interrupted me. "Whoa, man. Relax. They're with us." "What?!" I said even more alarmed. Reno turned around to look at me, with his sunglasses still on. He half-grinned, and then said a little menacingly, "When we found Cid two weeks ago, we found out you was getting hitched. We wanted to be a part of the fun." "Don't worry," Cid said. "Ever since they've lost their jobs they don't want to fight anymore. Least of all us. We've beat the #%& out of them one too many times." I saw Rude's knuckles whiten on the steering wheel and then relax after a moment. "Come on Cloud," Cid said. "Tonight is your last night of freedom, so we're gonna make sure your last night is $#&! awesome!"

It began with a visit to the pool hall. That was simple enough. We played some pool and made some bets. I ended up losing $20 to Kurt, which he rubbed in later. But I won $20 from both Rude and Reno, which left me twenty to the good. During which we exchanged stories of long lost girlfriends and a few stories of our fights through the years. I was surprised by Reno, who apparently had had twelve girlfriends over his life to date, was looking to get hooked up with another girl who he met the day before in a strip club. "Wow, you and a stripper. That makes sense to me," I said, razzing Reno. He laughed and then said, "Hey, don't make me go over there and beat you over the head again, just like I did on top of sector seven support pole." Barrett suddenly stopped laughing and clenched his fists, but I didn't notice. "Oh, you want some," I taunted. "Yah," Reno said smiling. We went outside and, taking off our shirts, we wrestled for what seemed like an hour but was really more like ten minutes. Although there was no contest as to who was stronger (me), Reno proved to be incredibly agile, and his surprisingly skinny frame enabled him to wiggle free of many of my holds. In the end we were both panting hard and staring at each other just out of each other's reach. "Alright," Barrett said, stepping between us. "I'm tired of seeing you two have all the fun. How about a free for all?" He bent his legs and put his body into the athletic position. Reno looked at me and me at him. We then said in sync, "Ah, HELL no." And that was the end of that match; although Cid did challenge Rude…Cid tore Rude apart in less then a minute.

After that they took me to a bar. We entered and the waitress led us to a back room filled with striking exotic colors, as well as it's own private bar and bartender. We sat down and started drinking. Now I have drunken beer before, and sipped some wine in the past, but I have never been "drunk" so to speak. In fact I've taken pride in the fact that I have never puked nor lost consciousness, but it seems that Cid, Barrett, and Rude were on a mission to get me plastered. They started by taking bets on who could down a glass the fastest, and then it moved to who could down the most and still be able to sing the national anthem coherently. As the guest of honor I had the responsibility of beating them at whatever challenge they gave me, and for the first time in my life, I really felt loopy and more then once the world around me spun in multiple directions, but I kept my head on straight and did my best to stay coherent.

"Hey, you know what would be a really fun game right now," Barrett said. "Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey." Vincent, who I had almost forgotten was present, looked at him through sober eyes and said, "You're kidding right?" "Well," Barrett continued, "I imagine since most of us here are pretty damn drunk, it could be kinda fun." Without a word, the bartender disappeared behind a red curtain and emerged a few minutes later with a large board of a donkey and a long black patch of cloth that I assumed was the tail. "You had one sitting in the back?" I asked him, doing my best to speak clearly. "You'd be surprised how many people ask for this very game when they're drunk," he responded. "But what is pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey," he continued, "without a pretty girl to blind fold you, spin you around, and point you in the right direction?" With that a pretty blonde girl in a tight, black, cat outfit appeared from out behind the curtain. The outfit resembled more of a tight one-piece bathing suit, except that she had a head band that had two little ears that were clearly supposed to resemble a cat, and she also had a tail attached on her back side. She smiled and then, looking at me, she winked, and then set up the game. "Don't worry," the bartender said, as I looked at him a little concerned. "No charge. It's on the house, since it's your bachelor party." "Cool," said Cid. "I'm up first!"

Cid jumped up and grabbed the black tail from the bartender. He then positioned himself about ten feet away from the cardboard with the donkey on it, and started to walk towards it stumbling a little. "Wait," the girl in the bunny outfit said. Cid paused and looked at her a little annoyed. "You have to be blindfolded first," she said, revealing a black scarf from out of no where. Cid smiled eerily and then let himself be blindfolded. The girl then led him about ten steps away from the board, and spun him around in a circle about five times. She then stopped him and pointed him in the right direction. "Now wait here just a second," she said. She ran behind the "donkey" and then told Cid to follow her voice to the donkey. Cid, drunk and dazed, took two steps and then stumbled over his own feet. Everyone had a good laugh, but Cid, irritated, listened to the girl's beckoning call and eventually found the donkey, placing the long black tail between the donkey's eyes. Again everyone laughed, and Cid stumbled back to his chair.

Kurt went next. He hadn't drunk as much as the rest of us (though Vincent was completely sober), and he had a little more success. He managed to stay on his feet the entire time, and also managed to put the tail near the donkey's hind leg.

Barrett was next. He did even worse then Cid, and practically fell on the donkey, totally forgetting the purpose of the tail.

Next however, came me. "Alright handsome," she said sexily, "it's your turn." Cid laughed and ordered another beer as I stood up and let myself be blindfolded. The girl, who by then we learned was named Cassandra, grabbed my shoulders and prepared to spin me, but she hesitated. "Ooo…you've got some nice strong shoulders, big guy…" I blushed inadvertently. "And you're tense too," she then started rubbing my back.

Now, normally I would have jumped away in a heartbeat and the thought of anyone, especially a girl, touching me, except for Tifa. But I must have really been drunk, because I just melted. Vincent looked at me disapprovingly, but Reno laughed and, like Cid, he ordered another beer.

After a moment, she stopped, and then spun me around several times. I lost all sense of where I was and when she finally stopped spinning me, I could barely stand up straight. She then moved over towards the donkey, I assumed, and started calling me towards her. I heard Barrett, Cid, and Reno suddenly start laughing hysterically, but also heard Kurt and Vincent suddenly get quiet. It also seemed to me that Rude also got a little quieter all of the sudden, if that were possible. But my mind was still hazy so I dismissed any thought of what was going on. I walked towards Cassandra's voice, stumbled over something but caught myself, and then, drawing ever slowly closer, pinned the tail on something warm and soft.

I took off my blindfold and saw that I had not just pinned the tail on the donkey as I had thought, but instead, had pinned the tail on Cassandra's butt, which she was now wiggling seductively side to side. I then heard everyone roar with laughter and I knew that I had just been tricked. Kurt had also brought out of his pocket a small camera and was taking pictures like mad. "Wait till Tifa sees this…" I heard him mutter.

I then came to my senses real quick.

Almost as if I had had nothing to drink that night, everything around me suddenly became painfully clear, and I recoiled from Cassandra who now was trying to pull herself close to me. She looked a little shocked as I yelled to no one in particular, "You guys just tricked me!!" Again everyone laughed at my embarrassment, and I heard Rude say, "We planned this thing the entire time." Reno roared with laughter and fell off his seat, holding his gut.

I felt like killing something right then, but the feeling conflicted with the realization that this was the kind of thing that happened at a bachelor party, and that someday I too would get the chance to embarrass the heck out of some of these guys at their own bachelor parties. That thought reassured me, and my fists unclenched as I took my seat, bowed my head, and stared at the bar. "Oh come on, Cloud," Kurt said. "It was all in good fun." I didn't respond. I didn't even move. Jeez, I hope Tifa never sees any of the pictures Kurt just took.

Cassandra hung around for a while, and Cid seemed to take a liking to her and he tried to hit on her a couple of times, but she was experienced at building, and breaking men's egos, and more then once she made him look like an fool. Like when he asked her to rub his neck like she had for me. She moved behind him and started to rub, but then she, on purpose, pinched a pressure point, and Cid yelped, falling to the floor, much to my chagrin. "Ah, poor baby," she said. "I didn't know that you were so bony." I realize now that that comment was actually pretty stupid, but when your drunk, even little comments like that seem to make, or break, your heart. Cid, trying to redeem himself, stood up and walked towards me. "Are you saying that Cloud is bigger then me?" he said to her, even though he was looking at me. "Oh yah," she said. Cid, in drunken anger, took a swing at me but missed by a mile and he fell unconscious to the floor, which made us all laugh even harder.

At about two o'clock we finally left, with Cassandra's invitation to come back any time (which I purposely forgot), and we took the limousine to Barrett's apartment. Inside was set up a small poker table and some extra beers. Cid, to my amazement, decided that he had had enough to drink, and instead got some water. Rude and Reno however, had not had their fill, and each downed another glass before the Texas Poker began.

When I started, I had forty dollars in my pocket, but because practically everyone besides Vincent (and apparently now myself) was drunk, my wallet quickly filled to over two hundred dollars. But then, by just dumb luck, I got on a losing streak, and I quickly ended up being broke in less then thirty minutes. The only real winners that night were Vincent and Reno. Vincent walked away with about fifty extra bucks in his pocket, while Reno was left with almost four hundred extra bucks. Barrett and Cid both eyed him eerily, but both were to drunk to realize that he was an expert at sleight of hand, and had secretly been stashing extra cards into his jacket until towards the end of the game, when he could easily now trade out certain cards from within his jacket and make seemingly heaven-sent hands, although none of us knew this until almost a year later when Vincent finally caught him in the act.

Soon it was four o'clock in the morning, and we quickly realized that the wedding would start in about ten hours, and that they all would need to sleep if they didn't want to appear hung over, even though we all knew we would be.

Vincent drove us all home, dropping me off first at my house. I walked up the small porch and quietly opened the door, and closing it, saw Tifa sitting wide awake in the corner. She looked at me with eyes that looked disappointed and worried, but with a smile that said, "I understand." In effect, she was telling me to never stay out that late again. "I won't stay out that late again, I promise," I said reassuringly. She nodded, and then without a word slipped into my bed and fell asleep instantly. I laid down next to her on the floor, and drew the comfort of the blanket around me. I drove the thought of Cassandra from my mind for the last time, and went to sleep dreaming of Tifa.


	29. Chapter 29: A Dream and a Memory

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Well, it looks like this is the last chapter for me. It's been a long but rewarding road, and has made me realize just how difficult it is for someone to write a long story. I have new admiration for the writers of the world.

But all in all, I'd say this was a pretty good fan-fic, especially considering that this is my first ever fan-fic.

Anyway, onto the final chapter.

Chapter 29.

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I thought I would be hung over in the morning, but I wasn't…or at least I didn't feel it. Tifa seemed to be acting a bit strangely though in the morning, which I guess is to be expected the day you're about to me married.

As planned, I stayed in the house just long enough to shower and clean myself up before I was booted out the door to a waiting car, with Cid as driver. Cid was obviously still a little out of it, because he had a difficult time driving the car straight, and he frequently made slow, rolling swerves between the two traffic lanes.

Barrett and Vincent accompanied us to Barrett's house, where our tuxes were waiting. We all had basic tuxes, which included the usual black coat and pants, plus a dark blue cumber bun and bow-tie. Cid grumbled when he put the tie on. At one point I think I heard him say, "Why can't I just where my pilot's scarf?" to Vincent, but it could have just been my imagination. Barrett and I were the only ones that had any differences in our tuxes. Barrett, as best man, had a dark blue vest on underneath his jacket instead of a cumber bun, and he also had a blue zip-tie, which even he admitted he liked. I wore the same thing as Barrett, except that my vest had a subtle design sewn into the fabric, which were mostly roses. My tux also was the only one with Penguin tails attached to the back of the tux. I thought they looked funny, so I got them thinking that maybe Tifa would get a kick out of them.

After about two hours we started walking out the door, when suddenly Barrett stopped us. "Wait just a second," he said. He disappeared behind a door and then came out with two bottles of sparkling cider and some glasses on a tray. "We forgot to do the toasts last night, so let's do them now." Cid asked Barrett why he was using sparkling cider instead of real wine for the toast. Barrett scowled at Cid and said, "Hey, we're all still a little hung over from last night, and on top of that, do you really want to make Cloud drunk on his big day?" Cid nodded and didn't say anything until he had a cup in his hands. Barrett gave the first toast. "Here's to a long fought road, to many good memories and victories, and to Cloud's happiness from this day forward." "And here's to Cloud's last night of virginity," Cid chimed in. We all had a good laugh and we downed our drinks. "So how long do you bet until Cloud has his first kid?" Cid asked. "I'd say…nine months." Again everyone laughed at the repeated joke, and I was left standing, my face red. Vincent then said a little more seriously, "What do you think your first child will be, Cloud? A boy or a girl?" "Uh…" This was the first time I had had the opportunity to speak during the entire conversation, and here I was left totally speechless. "Ah, who cares," Barrett said saving me. "Let's stop bugging him and get him over to the church."

I wish I knew the next few hours in greater detail. But it's funny how when so many joyous things happen around you at once how your mind begins to confuse them. Of the next couple hours, here's what I remember:

I remember driving to the church and walking into a small room on the side of the chapel room, where Tifa's family (minus Tifa) was waiting. It was the first time I had met them in years, and they didn't look very similar to how I remembered them. Tifa's father was shorter and sterner looking. His eyes were dark and always seemed to be looking at something in great detail, and yet nothing in any detail at all. Tifa's mom was more heavy-set then I remembered her, but by no means fat. She had long hair like Tifa's, though brown, not black, and her face was rounder then Tifa's. Also her eyes seemed less bright and optimistic then I would have expected out of a mother about to marry off her daughter. I also met Tifa's only surviving grandmother, and old haggard lady who wore a blue dress that smelled like mothballs, but her presence was some how sweet and inviting.

What happened after I met her family I completely forgot.

Until the music started.

I am standing just outside the church on the limestone rock. Barrett is ushering in individuals to their various assigned seats, and I feel oddly out of place among the quiet hustle and bustle around me. Suddenly Barrett appears and looks at his watch. He seems more urgent and punctual now then I've ever seen him before, which I am very grateful for. In the church I can hear the murmur of about 40-50 people as they talk among themselves quietly. The organist, a young lady who Tifa hired about two weeks ago, suddenly stops playing her slow, quiet, hymn-like music. She pauses a moment and looks around. Her head suddenly locks in on something. She looks at it hard, then nods, and she begins to play the tune that we are all familiar with. It's the song they play when the groom and best man and bridesmaids and others are walking down the isle, but before the bride does. As the groom, I enter the renovated church first. I pause a moment to take a look at the scene around me. In front of me is a long red carpet, covered with white rose petals. To each side of the isle are seven rows of newly stained and repaired oak seats, with spotless vinyl cushions. Above me is the lofty ceiling supported by seemingly new spruce support beams, decorated with white ribbon, cloth, and sequins that drape down and over the banisters. All along the banisters of the seats are bouquets of white roses with light blue accent flowers that I don't recognize. I walk down the isle quickly, although it seems forever, because I am drinking in the scenery around me. Above me and in front of me is the stained glass skylight that Vincent has been working on countless hours. The stained glass depicts a girl with brown hair and a pink dress in the middle of a grove, kneeling with a bouquet of white flowers in her hands, looking skyward at a bright light in the air. This seems fitting, because the sun is shining down through the skylight, illuminating the podium, arbor, and preacher standing behind. The arbor is surrounded in carefully pruned ivy, and is also strung with blue lace and white ribbon. I finally reach the stage and take my place next to the preacher and gaze out at the people in front of me. I only recognize about half of them. There's Rude, Reno and Lewd…there's my "parents," who really aren't my parents but took care of me as child and who I believed up until about two years ago was my actual biological family. There's the gang in the front row, Vincent, Cid, Yuffie, Red XIII, and Kurt all lined up with looks of anticipation. I pause a second at Red XIII. I almost laugh out loud but manage to hold it in when I notice that he is wearing a specially tailored tux. How Tifa found a tailor willing to design one for a talking dog I don't know, but it looks absolutely hilarious on him, and Red XIII doesn't seem to comfortable in it either. I noticed at various intervals that he would shift his weight uncomfortably, or scratch at the collar or tie, only to have it apparently bug him all the more because he would look even more irritated after he scratched then before he started.

It was then that I noticed that Barrett had been escorting people to their various spots during the ceremony. First came Tifa's mom, followed by Tifa's grandmother, then Mrs. Gainsborough, who was a guest of honor, followed by Meredith (who was a flower girl)…

…followed by Tifa and her dad. My heart suddenly began to pound hard as I saw her emerge. Her dress was made of a variety of fabrics, all in pure white, of course. The dress itself was long and flowed gently around her body, and the silver sequins shone brightly the carefully laid designs of flowers and stars. She wore a pearl necklace with a silver pendant lined in blue that showed off her neck. Around her shoulders was a thin layer of see-through fabric that contrasted sweetly with her deep tan. She wore a veil made of the same see-through material, except that it was anchored to her head via a small crown lined with diamonds. Her hair shone brightly against the lights of the room, and seemed to flow with every step she took. Finally when she got close enough for me to see her face in detail, my heart skipped a beat and soared as I gazed into the face of the woman I loved more then anything else in the world. Her lips were a richly colored red, her cheeks faintly pink but full of her natural color. Her eyes were lined with a gentle eye shadow, and decorated with those little sparkly things that girls put on their skin sometimes these days. And her eyes and lips smiled wider and brighter then I had ever seen them before. No more was there any desire in both our hearts but to be by each other's side, and no longer was there any fear nor obstacle in our way.

She walked up to me, and symbolically releasing her father, let go of his hand and I took her hand in mine. Barrett then appeared somehow behind me, and it was his presence as Best Man that made me notice that there were no bridesmaids.

No bridesmaids?

My eyes penetrated Tifa's looking for an answer. She had told me herself weeks ago that she had a bridesmaid. Where was she?

And then I knew.

Out of the light of the stained glass window there was the figure of a girl in a pink dress, on her knees, holding white flowers and looking skyward. The light shining through the glass at that moment seemed to create the image of a girl I had long known and hadn't seen but once in almost two years.

Aerieth, weather by trick of the light, or actually there in some ghostly form, was standing as the bridesmaid behind Tifa.

And then as quickly as it had come, the vision disappeared, and I heard the audience take a deep breath, some sighing, some surprised. Mrs. Gainsborough began to cry quietly, but everyone else took heart in what we had just seen, and the preacher at last began to weave the words that bound our lives together.

I heard him say, "Cloud, do you take this woman to be your wife, through thick and through thin, through sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, as long as you both shall live?" Tifa, looked at me lovingly through her veil as I looked at her and said, "I do." Likewise, Tifa in turn said the same words, and after I put the wedding band upon her finger, I was allowed to lift the veil from off her face. We smiled in a sweet mixture of joy, exhilaration, relief, and love as I reached for her and kissed her.

And for just a moment, no one in the world existed but her, and me. That moment, thought everything else that night seemed so quick and so difficult to remember in detail, stayed with me in perfect memory throughout my life.

The reception was held in a large building that was now used as a dance club, but Tifa and her family had it reserved and redecorated it for the entire night. I remember meeting the many people who I had not recognized (mostly Tifa's extended family or childhood friends) and having many pictures taken of the two of us. I remember when the DJ started the dance that I was so thrilled to finally be able to talk to Tifa alone, even if only for a brief moment. The slow song found us dancing arm in arm, and kissing, not talking as I had thought I would do, during the song. And when we weren't kissing enveloped in our love, I filled the time by singing to her along with the song, which if I remember right was "I Swear."

Finally it came time for us to leave and head for our home, which in the morning we would leave behind to go to Costa del Sol, where we would live in luxury for a week. I found the limousine that was to take us home covered in toilet paper, cans, car-chalk, balloons, and even freshly sliced ham on the windshield. On the back were the words, "Love mobile." I figured at that point that that was a touch from Cid. I helped Tifa in with her dress and sat next to her. I looked at the chauffeur, who seemed a little annoyed at the ham on the windshield, and told him to "Take us home, good man."

"So how's it feel, Cloud?" Tifa said as she maneuvered her dress around to make herself more visible. "I've never felt better," I responded. "You know," I continued, "I've heard a lot of guys say how different they felt after they got married, like they were tied down. I don't feel that way at all. If anything, I feel better now that I'm _not_ single." Tifa laughed a little, and then leaned her head against my shoulder. I then realized that it was actually nine o'clock at night. Jeez, where had the time gone? I leaned my head against hers and we blissfully rode home.

We arrived at my small house in a few minutes. Again, I helped Tifa out of the door with her dress, but, after dismissing the chauffeur and giving him a big tip, I swept Tifa off of her feet and she giggled as I led her up the steps and through the door into my house. "I know it's not fancy, but—" "I love you anyway, Cloud," she interrupted.

I changed out of my tux and made sure all my stuff was ready for the next week. I finally slipped into bed while Tifa changed carefully out of her large dress in the bathroom. I wanted to stay awake for Tifa, but I suddenly felt exhausted. I did manage to stay awake long enough to see her slip into bed with me, and I put my arm around her, smelled her lovely, never ending lilac smell, told her how much I loved her, and then fell to sleep.

The next day Cid took us aboard a private trip to Costa del Sol in Highwind. He didn't talk much to us, but mostly because Tifa and I talked to each other non-stop about the night before—about how Cid had almost passed out drinking a little too much wine, about how funny Barrett had looked when he realized that there was no bridesmaid to be seen (something that I had not noticed), and a number of other things we discussed in nervous anticipation.

We arrived and Cid helped us with our luggage before he blasted off in a strange hurry. Suddenly we found ourselves in the middle of Costa del Sol, lost looking for our hotel. Though I will say my arms got tired lugging around all of the luggage all by myself as we hunted desperately for our hotel, it was also one of the highlights of the honeymoon for me. I don't know why. It was somehow fulfilling in its own way.

We found our hotel, and dropped off our stuff. The first thing we did was go out to dinner at a five star restaurant…which ended up being very interesting. The menu had all these weird things on it that I had never heard of, and we both eventually picked the calamari, because, according to Tifa, it was quite good. Tifa liked the stuff, of course, but I thought it was disgusting. I ended up going back to the hotel rather hungry that night. I did manage to find a store that was still open late that night, and I bought some granola bars and some cereal to tide us over until the next day.

That night, fully awake, I waited for Tifa who was taking a late night shower. She finally emerged and slipped into bed, but to my surprise she was wearing a full set of pajamas. I took the hint, put my arm around her waist, and fell to sleep, lulled to sleep by the faint fragrance of her skin and perfume.

The next few days were fast and fun. We did a number of different things, like volleyball and stuff. We saw a local aquarium and found some decent restaurants this time, and we also went swimming and sunbathing together, which I was kind of glad for, because I got to show off my six pack, and I also got to laugh at my farmers tan. Tifa seemed all the more beautiful to me each and every day. Every moment that I got to hold her I wished could have extended forever.

And every night I waited for her but found that she would not invite me to her for some reason.

All too quickly a week ended, and Cid reappeared with Highwind to take us to Mideel. Cid remarked how tanned we looked, and how burnt I looked as he looked more closely at me. We laughed and we blasted off.

Finally in Mideel, Cid said goodbye for the last time for a long time, and I escorted my new wife to our final home. She seemed to positively glow as we passed and talked to all the neighbors and townsfolk. She never ceased to amaze me.

At the front of our steps, she started to open the door when suddenly I stopped her. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" "Going inside," she replied innocently. "Why, is something wrong?" "No," I replied. "I just want to make this official." "Oh," she said giggling again. She let herself be swept off her feet for the last time, and I carried her into the house that we would live in for many years to come. It was good to finally be able to say to myself that we were finally home at last.

That night was different from the rest. As I lay waiting for Tifa to finish taking a shower I noticed that she was taking longer then usual. It didn't cross my mind that she was getting ready.

After what seemed like almost an hour, she emerged finally out of the darkness. There she was standing in nothing but that T-shirt that I had seen her wearing a few months earlier. I could plainly see that there was nothing else on underneath it, and as she slipped into bed with me, I knew I could no longer deny her. "I love you, Cloud, with all of my heart." "Tifa, I love you too," I said as I reached for her. She let me slowly take off her shirt, and I in turn let her take off my own clothes. She invited me to finally explore her deepest places, and to drink in her love. I gave all my love to her and her to me, and we were joined in the fruits of the flesh, loving long into the night. My muscles melted under her touch, and she giggled when I showered her neck, stomach, and secret places with kisses. Her touch was like sweet honey that dripped slowly forever, and her smell drove me insane with lust and love. I couldn't help but feel the joy as I searched and dug and eventually unearthed the well of energy that lied within her.

Even after an eternity of pleasure and love, and even after I lay panting next to her exhausted, Tifa continued to drink and kiss and touch and love me until we both felt a feeling of mutual respect, love, appreciation, and gratitude that could only be overshadowed by the feeling of fulfillment we enjoyed. At that point Tifa finally stopped and laid her head upon my chest, her hand around my waist, and my arm lay around her shoulder. Looking back, I'm surprised that that night wasn't a dream. It was too good to be true, but true it was. I had never been happier.

I woke up to find that Tifa had disappeared. A wave of fear swept over me as I jumped out of bed looking for her. But my fear subsided as I found she was taking a shower. I smiled as I stealthily climbed into the shower and surprised her, but again she laughed and invited me in. She allowed me to wash her body from head to foot; something I had never done even during her year of insanity, and the morning was filled with the sweet smells of gentle love.

It was no surprise to me that a little over a month later, Tifa came to me making an announcement. "Cloud, how would you feel about being a father?" "A father?" I paused. It hadn't hit me yet. "Well…I think I'm ready for that. I'd like to start a fam—"and then it hit me. I ran over and hugged Tifa tightly as I spun her around. In truth, I hadn't put much thought into being a father, but the thought seemed exciting and fulfilling, so I wholeheartedly accepted it.

But three months later, I woke up to find Tifa crying next to me. "What's wrong, honey?" I asked concerned. She looked at me sorrowfully. "I just miscarriaged…" she replied, pointing to the bathroom. She put her head in her hands and balled. My heart suddenly felt crushed with disappointment, and the hopes and dreams we had shared for our unborn child suddenly were dashed to pieces. But knowing how much worse she felt then me as a mother, I reached for her and consoled her. "I wonder if something is wrong with me," she said at one point. "Nothing's wrong with you Tifa. Besides, it's only happened once, and if we need to go get some help, then we can do it." She sniffed and hugged me tightly. "I love you so much…"

That night, we made love again. But this time we had the goal of having a child, not just sharing our mutual love. We now wanted to have a family, and I felt ready for the responsibility of a father. So once again, we drank each other dry and we both woke up feeling fulfilled and with an even greater appreciation and connection between each other.

A little over a year after our anniversary, our first child was born successfully. It was a girl, a lovely little girl. I was the first to hold her after Tifa's long ordeal with the labor, and got to cut the umbilical cord and to wrap her in a pink blanket, then finally place her into Tifa's arms.

Looking at the two of them, a new realization and feeling swept over me.

I thought I had known what love was when I first kissed Tifa.

I thought I had known what love was when I finally discovered how much Tifa meant to me.

I thought I had known what love was when I married Tifa.

I thought I had known what love was after our night of love.

But here I was, gazing at my wife and brand new daughter, and I suddenly felt a new love and feeling of responsibility towards this child and to Tifa. I thought I had known what love was like, until now, and to try to describe it surpasses this man's ability.

And so the story comes full circle. After many years of hard work, danger, success and failure, my story concludes here. Though not for my daughter. Raina Aerieth Strife is her name, and with a curiosity for adventure, a slightly tomboyish attitude, and the looks and personality oddly similar to Aerieth (though with black hair), I know that she is bound to get into trouble some day. But for now, I'm content to see my wife hold her in her arms, and to see Tifa smile in a way I had never known possible.

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I conclude my story here. I hope you all have enjoyed it.

But the real question is, what will happen to Raina, Cloud and Tifa's daughter?

Sorry folks, but I'm not the one to tell you. However, if any of you out there would like to write a follow-up story on Raina's life, please go ahead. Just email me and tell me you're doing it so I can read it.

Raina looks strangely like Aerieth, and acts a lot like her too, but she has a tom-boy side to her that she inherited from Tifa. She has blue (glowing) eyes, and she is fluent in using the sword, her fists, as well as using her personal favorite weapon, the staff. She has long black hair almost identical to her mothers, much like several other physical features. In fact, the only noticeable trait that she inherited from her father is his blue eyes.

She also likes to go swimming in life-stream some times. She is completely immune to its effects, but sometimes she can hear voices from the deep while swimming in it. Are these voices calling to her? Are they warning her of something?

I'll leave you to decide what happens. Good luck! And again, thank you for all the kind reviews and especially for your patience as I wrote this story extremely slowly. Thank you again, and adieu!

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